Shoot Me
by OnceUponACrimeScene
Summary: After a long case Sara goes home, but before she get's very far she falls victim to a drive by shooting. Can she survive? Can the team find who's targeting her? There shall be crime, investigating and, of course, GSR!
1. Chapter 1

*Authors note: I don't own CSI or the characters. This will not be directly in line with the show, story wise, it's my version of how GSR came to be! Or at least one of my versions. It's also my first CSI fic, so please be patient with me :-). Please review!*

Sara Sidle sat in the locker room, of the Las Vegas Crime Lab. It had been a long night, and a long case, and she was exhausted. She stood up and flicked her hair over her shoulder, she was ready to go home. Taking her phone, purse and keys out of her locker, she closed it and walked out of the room. As she walked towards the exit, she passed Grissom's office. The door was closed so she knocked and opened it slightly, popping her head through. It was empty. She was disappointed he wasn't there, it would have been good to see him before she left. She hadn't seen him much lately and she missed him.

Things have always been complicated between the two of them, but since this case started it had gotten worse. She was getting tired of his mood swings, once second he was with her all the time, the next he was pushing her away. It had always been that way, she just wished she knew why.

"He's not there." Nick's voice came from behind her. She turned and smiled at him.

"I've gathered that." She closed the door and walked down the corridor, Nick following.

"Greg, Warrick and I are going to grab some breakfast at the diner, do you want to join us?" he asked.

"No, I think I'm just going to head home." She replied, clearly exhausted. Taking her elbow, Nick stopped her. He looked at her, concern on his face. "I'm fine, Nick. I just want to go home." He nodded, seemingly happy with her response. She put a hand on him arm, thanking him for his concern. She had never had anyone who really cared about how she was doing, until she joined this team. Nick, Greg and Warrick were like the brothers she never had, and they were all protective of her, and Catherine. Just as she was protective of them.

It was a special, if not slightly dysfunctional, family and she was eternally grateful for Grissom asking her to come. Not that they had always been so close, she butted head with both Warrick and Catherine when she first started. However, after her first year in Vegas, they had all become very close. Nick studied her for a few seconds longer, confirming that she was really ok.

"Well, if you change your mind, that's where we'll be." He raised a hand in farewell, and left her. Sara made her way to the labs car park, got in her car and left. En-route to her house, she stopped at her favourite café. She'd go there at least 4 or 5 times a week, kind of like a tradition. It was right in between her apartment and the lab. Not many people knew about it, thanks to its location, so it was never crowded. She only found it by accident. She had been wondering around, during one of her rare days off, and stumbled across it.

It was a small, family run business and Sara loved going there. She loved getting some peace and quiet, especially after a particularly draining case. Plus they did the best pancakes she'd ever had.

She parked her car and walked through the door, the bell chiming letting the owners know there was a customer.

"Sara!" Mark Carson cried, when he saw her come in. "It's good to see you again, we haven't seen you round here for a while."

"It's been 3 days, Mark." Sara said, laughing with familiar ease.

"Well, we've missed you." Mark said, smiling at her. "I'll let Mags know you're here, she'll get your pancakes for you." Sara grinned at the older man. Mark and his wife Maggie owned the café and the three of them had gotten to know each other well over the years. Sara paid for her food, and sat at her usual table. Someone had left a newspaper, so she picked it up and started reading. After a few seconds, she skipped to the crossword, got out a pen and got to work.

"Sara!" Maggie Carson called, walking towards the younger woman. Sara, putting down her pen and the paper, stood and hugged her. Maggie pulled back and held her at arm's length. "You look tired, Sara. When was the last time you had a good night's sleep?"

"A while ago." Sara said, a little sheepishly. Maggie shook her head and dropped her arms.

"You work too hard, girl. Take some time off, go out, enjoy yourself." Maggie said, sternly.

"I will."

"You better. Now, are you eating here today?"

"No." Sara replied. "I've got to head home."

"Long shift?" Maggie asked, concerned.

"You can say that." Maggie didn't like that response. She nodded to Sara and walked back to the kitchen. She liked Sara Sidle, she was sassy and kind and more than capable of looking after herself. She was the type of woman she wanted her daughters to grow up to be. She came back a few minutes later, carrying a box with Sara's pancakes in. "Here you go. You go home and get some rest."

"I will, thanks Mags." The women hugged once more, and Sara left. As she got to her car, she took out her phone. She debated calling Grissom, maybe just a text. She opened her car door. That was when it happened.

One of her windows shattered, then another. Sara dropped everything and fell to the floor, taking cover from behind her car. She had no idea where the shots came from, but all of a sudden the noise of gun fire was all around her. She could feel her car rock as the impacts of the bullets hit it.

She took her gun out of its holster and held it ready. Taking a breath, she looked over the bonnet, trying to see where the fire was coming from. There was a black SUV across the street. She saw two men in black hoodies holding their guns out of the window. She ducked down just as another round of fire began. She took another breath and put her gun over the bonnet, returning fire.

Grissom and Brass pulled up at the lab, they had just spent the last hour or so going over the paperwork of the night's case.

"How's Sara doing?" Brass asked, before Grissom had the chance to leave the car.

"I'm not sure." The other man replied.

"Jones really had it in for her, didn't he."

"Well, she was the one who put him away." Grissom said, with some pride in his voice. Sara was one of his best CSI's, her intuition was uncanny. Even when everyone back off Vincent Jones, Sara kept at it. She knew something wasn't right, and it wasn't. Without her, the man certainly would have walked free.

"Do you think he'll make good on his threat?" Brass asked, concerned for his friends safety.

"I'm not sure." Grissom said, with the same concern. "I'm hoping to talk to her, before she leaves. Make sure she's going to be careful." Grissom didn't want to think what would happen if Jones made good on his threat, just the thought of it filled him with panic. He was desperate to get in the lab, just to see that she really was ok.

Brass's radio went off then, Grissom said goodbye and got out the car as Brass answered. He hadn't gotten very far when his team came rushing out, all except the one he really wanted to see.

"Where's the fire, Cath." Grissom asked as the four of them ran up to him.

"Ecklie got a call, there's a shooting near Sara's. Officer in distress" Catherine said.

"Where's Sara?" Grissom asked, sharply.

"We don't know, she left about half an hour ago." Nick said.

"Has anyone tried calling her?"

"We've been calling her." Warrick said, his phone still to his ear. "She's not answering." Grissom's heart dropped to the pit of his stomach.

"Gil." Brass called from his car. "We've got to go, there's been a casualty. The EMT's are on their way." He looked at the team in front of him, wishing with everything he had he didn't have to say the next sentence. "It's Sara."


	2. Chapter 2

*Authors note: Thank you everyone who's reviewed. Apologies for not replying to guest reviews, I am unable too. I hope I can answer your questions with this chapter and I really appreciate your reviews. So onto the next chapter, hope you enjoy and please review!*

Chapter 2

2 days previously

Grissom walked through the lab, heading towards the break area, the night's assignments in his hands. He passed the locker room, glancing in as he passed. He stopped and did a double take, Sara was sat on the bench. He checked, there was no one else in there with her. She looked deep in thought, sad.

He checked up and down the hall, before entering the room. "Sara?" She looked up, surprised. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah," She said, closing her locker and turning to face him. "Assignments for tonight?" She asked, nodding to the paper in his hand. He looked down, he had forgotten they were there.

"I'm just about to hand them out."

"I'll be right in." She said, there was something in her voice, he couldn't quiet put his finger on it. He nodded to her and left.

Once he had left, Sara lent against her locker. Why did he have that effect on her? Her heart was pounding in her chest, it had been since she looked up and saw him standing in the doorway. Try as she might, she had never been able to get over Gilbert Grissom. From the moment she saw him, standing up at the Forensic Academy Conference, she had fell and fell hard. Every time she sees him, she manages to fall even harder.

How did he manage to do that? Even after the past couple of days, he had been aloof and distant, ignoring and avoiding her. Her heart still pounded whenever she saw him. She was tired of it. Tired of being thrown around like a yo-yo. One minuet he was there, pulling her closer. The next, he was pushing her away and she had no idea why.

Sara shook her head, she had a job to do after all and Grissom was probably handing out the assignments. She walked into the break room, the rest of the team were already sat around the table, Grissom standing at the head.

"Sara Sidle, you're 30seconds late." Nick Stokes cried, incredulously, with his thick Texan accent. "Shame on you." Sara just smiled sweetly at him.

"I'm sorry, Nick. Next time I'll follow your example. What was it yesterday? 30 minutes late for shift?" She said, her grin getting wider at the look on his face.

"It was not 30 minutes" He said, defending himself.

"No, it was mate." Warrick Brown put in, never missing an opportunity to tease his friend. Sara smiled, triumphantly at Nick who opened his mouth to say more, only to be cut off by Grissom.

"That's enough, I've got your assignments for tonight." He said, handing them the pieces of paper. "Catherine, you've got a B&E up in Henderson. Take Greg."

"The Rookie and the Second." Greg piped up. "It sounds like the title of a…"

"Don't finish that sentence." Catherine interrupted.

"Cool your jets, Cath. I was just going to say the title of an old mob film." Greg said, putting his hands up in defence. Catherine gave him a snort of disbelief.

"Nick, Sara. You're with me, we've got a 419 at the Palermo. Warrick, you've got a court date."

"Don't remind me." Warrick said, frustrated. Once Grissom had finished giving out the assignments, Catherine and Greg left and Warrick got up to get a refill of his coffee.

"Nick, Sara, grab your kits and meet me there." The pair nodded and left the room. Grissom watched them leave, teasing each other as they left. He wasn't sure what was wrong with Sara earlier, but she seemed ok now, laughing and teasing with Nick. He frowned a little, and turned to Warrick. "Hey Rick?" Warrick turned around, raising his eyebrows. "Do you know if there's anything wrong with Sara?" Grissom asked, trying to sound nonchalant about it.

"Sara?" Warrick asked, surprised.

"Yeah, she seemed a little down earlier. I was just wondering if everything was ok." Grissom kept his voice and face as neutral as possible. Years of practice had perfected his poker face, it came in hand with situations like this. With Grissom's mask in place, Warrick didn't see the underlying concern there, or the reason behind it.

"No, I haven't noticed anything." Grissom nodded and turned around, only to be stopped by Warrick. "Hey, Griss." Grissom turned back, expectantly. "When are you going to stop this?"

"Stop what?" Grissom asked, generally confused.

"When are you going tell her? Or at least admit it to yourself?"

"What are you talking about?" He asked already knowing, or at least suspecting, the answer.

"Look, Griss, your personal life is none of my business, and I don't want to pry. But, if she has seemed a little down, I don't think you need to look too far to see why." All of this was said without accusation, just concern, and Grissom was surprised at his statement. "Just something to think about." Warrick said, before clapping a hand to his shoulder and leaving the room.

Grissom just stood there for a second, frowning, before following Warrick out. He walked to his office, picked up his kit and made his way to the car park. All the while, Warrick's words went round his head.

Why was Sara so down? Don't need to look too far? What did that even mean? All these questions swirled round Grissom's mind, as he pulled out of the car park and onto the road. He got to a set of traffic lights, on red, and stopped. He put on his hand break, still trying to work it out.

Was it something with the lab? Or the team? No, it couldn't be that. He saw her with the team, and she was perfectly happy. Different to what she was like with him.

As that thought entered his head, it hit him. It was him. He was the problem. But why? He had hardly spoken to her over the past few days, what could he have done? Grissom racked his brain, trying to work out what he had said or done to upset her. It was bad enough to know she was upset, but to realise he had been the one to cause it was worse.

He made a resolve, as the lights changed, to fix it. He couldn't do it now, obviously, they would be at a crime scene. But when they got back to the lab, he'd talk to her then.

When Grissom finally arrived at the scene, Brass was there. As were Nick and Sara. The pair already had their kits out and were processing the scene. Grissom parked, grabbed his kit and got out of the car, making a beeline for Brass.

Jim Brass looked up from his notepad, over the shoulder of the witness whose statement he was taking, and saw Grissom walking towards him.

"Excuse me, just one second." He said politely to the woman in front of him, and walked over to greet Grissom. "I didn't think you were coming for a second there." He said, shaking his friend's hand,

"What do we have?" Grissom asked.

"Gunshot victim. Charlotte Smith, 28. Works here, as a waitress." Brass said, reading from his notes. Grissom nodded and walked under the yellow tape, heading towards Sara who was looking over the body.

"What have you found?" He asked her.

"No much yet" She said, without looking up. "Her wallet was with her. Cash and credit cards still inside. Rules out robbery." She looked up at him then, but Grissom was looking at something on her left arm. Sara followed his gaze and then noticed it too. "What do you think that is?" She asked.

"Blood? Maybe." Was his reply, as he opened his kit to get a swab out. He swabbed the red drop, dropped a little luminol on it. "Yep, it's blood. I don't see an open wound on her arm." He said, looking up and down the girls arm.

"Maybe it got there when she was shot?" Sara suggested.

"No," Grissom said. "Look at where it's placed. How would it get there from a shot to the head?" Grissom looked the girl over again, she was around 5"6, brunette and weighed about 160 pounds. Or at least that was his guess. There was a hole in her forehead, made by, what he would guess, a 22 calibre bullet.

"Maybe it's our killers?" Sara suggested again. Grissom only nodded, he looked over to David Phillips, the coroner's assistant. David glanced up and saw Grissom looking at him, he rushed over.

"I'm all done here, sir. I've already checked the body, so I can take her back whenever you're done." David said, quickly, a little uneasy in Grissom's presence.

"Thank you David. Sara are you done?"

"Yeah." Sara replied.

"Good, go back with the body and collect her clothing. Also, get that to Wendy for analysis." Grissom said, handing her the swab and standing up. On her nod he walked over to Nick.

An hour later, Grissom and Nick walked back to the lab. Nick got a lift with Grissom as Sara took their car when she left with the body. They didn't find much at the crime scene, just a cartridge casing for a 22 calibre bullet, a few shoe prints and a torn piece of clothing where the body had been. The surmised it had come from the killer, as neither men remembered her wearing anything grey.

As they walked down the corridor, Sara came round the corner on the other side.

"There you are." She called. "I was just about to call you." When Grissom and Nick had walked over to her, she turned around and started walking with them towards Grissom's office. "I took some finger scraping from the victim and sent them over to Wendy, she got a match from the DNA there to the blood you found on the victims arm." They had reached the office by this point, so Grissom put his kit down as Sara handed him the file. For a few seconds, his fingers brushed over hers and he felt a sort of electricity flow through him.

Grissom looked at her and quickly away to the file. "Do you know who it is?" he asked, trying to focus himself back on work.

"Second page. Wendy got a hit in, Vincent Jones. He a small time drug dealer, been arrested multiple times but only charged once. Sexual assault on one of his female clients." Sara said.

"Thank you. I'll call Brass and let him know." Grissom said, only just looking up from the file in his hand. "Nick, get the casing to Bobby and then see what you can get from the fabric and shoe prints." Nick nodded and walked away, Grissom turned back to Sara. "Do you fancy joining me for an autopsy?"

*This was a long one, I know. I just got in a writing groove. Don't worry, it won't be too long before we find out what happened to Sara. Hope you enjoyed it, please review.*


	3. Chapter 3

*A/N: Time for the next chapter. Thank to everyone for reading and reviewing. Hope you enjoys this one.*

Chapter 3

Sara and Grissom walked out of the morgue, both carrying files with notes from the autopsy. It didn't reveal anything they didn't already know. The victim died of a gunshot wound to the front of her head, execution style. There were abrasions on her knees, probably from kneeling, and the sexual assault kit came back negative. There were also some superficial injuries on her arms, suggesting she fought back, which explain the DNA found under her fingernails.

Sara's phone went off then.

"It's Brass. They've got Vincent Jones in custody." She explained.

"That was fast." Grissom said in surprise.

"Apparently he was trying to hide. He's either very stupid, or a criminal genius." Sara smirked, as if she didn't believe the second one for a moment. "Anyway, I'm going to head down to the station. You coming with?"

"Sure." Grissom replied. He looked up and realised they were very close, all he had to do was lean in a few centimetres and his lips would touch her forehead. Before he could clear his mind of that though, she looked up at him. Their eyes locked, blue and brown meeting. His breath caught in is throat and his heart skipped, before he knew it he was leaning in.

Sara looked up at him, when he replied. Realising he was very close. Her eyes locked with his, and she noticed his eye's darken a little with, dare she hope, desire. Her heart started beating, madly, in her chest as his head started lowering towards her.

They were so close now, she could feel his breath on her lips. She parted her own, her breath coming out a little ragged now. His eyes had never left hers. They were millimetres apart when David came out of the morgue, banging the door as he went.

They jumped apart, dropping the files on the floor. Sara flushed profusely, she bent down to pick up the paperwork, hiding her face. She can't believe what happened, she almost kissed him. She was torn between relief and frustration, if only David had waited one more second before banging that door. She gathered the papers in her hand and turned to leave, not wanting Grissom to see her embarrassment.

"Sara." Grissom called to her, she didn't stop. He couldn't understand it, was she upset with him? 'Of course she is, you fool.' Grissom scolded himself. 'You're her supervisor, not to mention your 15 years older than she is. She's probably disgusted with you.' Grissom bent down and picked up the papers he dropped, then followed Sara out of the door. Not able to get the look on her face, before they were interrupted, out of his face.

He walked into the car park and saw her standing next to her car, she looked over at him. He couldn't quiet read her face. When he reached the car, she got in the driver's seat without a word. He walked round to the other side and got in.

They drove in silence, Sara kept her face forward. His face was blank, his mask back in place. She wanted to turn when he called her, but she didn't think she'd be able to stop herself from throwing herself at him and kissing him. Which, going by his current mood, was probably a good thing. Did he regret what happened? It was hard to tell with Grissom, one minute he was close and open, letting her get a glimpse of who he it. The next he's close off, pushing her away, mask in place.

She was tired of the emotional see-saw he had her on, but she kept remembering the look in his eyes before David opened the door. He wanted that kiss as much as she did, or at least that's what she thought. Looking at him now, she wasn't sure.

They arrived at the station and Sara was out of the car before Grissom even unbuckled his seatbelt. He followed her in, when he had caught up with her he pulled her aside. He couldn't leave things like this, he needed to apologise at least.

Sara was marching down the corridor when a strong hand grabbed her elbow. When she turned round she saw Grissom holding her, he checked up and down the corridor before looking back at her. If she didn't know any better, she would think he was going to try and kiss her again. He opened his mouth.

"Sara." He started, but words seemed to fail him again. Why couldn't he just talk to her? She had said that she was always over talking around him, but he was never able to form a coherent sentence around her. Especially when she looked at him like that, her brown eyes round looking straight at him.

He looked down, realising he was still holding onto her elbow. She wasn't wearing sleeves, so his skin touched hers. He ran his thumb along the softness of her skin, marvelling in it. All thought left him, the only thing he could think of was the softness of her skin under his.

"Grissom?" He voice cut in, bringing him back to the present. He dropped his hand.

"Sara, I-" He started, a little unsure as to what to say. "I, uh, just want to apologise. For what happened, back in the morgue. It was unprofessional. It won't happen again." With that said, he left her and went to find Brass.

It won't happen again. Those words ran through her mind when he left her. She couldn't help the disappointment that went through her, she wanted it to happen again. She remembered then, she was stood in the station. Her suspect was waiting for her. She needed to pull herself together, she'd deal with this after the case.

Sara walked to the interview room, Brass and Grissom were both waiting outside. When she arrived, both men looked up. Brass smiled, Grissom's expression didn't change. "Our suspect in there?" She asked Brass.

"Yeah." He replied. "Do you want to come in? He looks like a bit of a player, we may be able to use that to our advantage." Sara just stared at him. If he wanted someone to go in there and flirt with the suspect, he should have called Catherine. Flirting was definitely not Sara's thing, especially with a suspect and Grissom watching in the next room.

Grissom, sensing her discomfort. "You won't need to do anything Sara, just present your findings and leave."

"Of course." Brass said, cottoning on to what Grissom saw. "Just your presence alone may loosen his tongue, you're more likely to get a confession than either of us."

Sara knew he didn't mean to be offensive, and she supposed it wasn't that bad, what he was asking of her. But she didn't like to idea of being used to get a confession. 'Think about it though.' She thought. 'It's what we do, regularly. Use what we have, exploit weaknesses, to get a confession.' She had seen detectives and criminalists do it on countless occasions, she had even done it herself.

She gave Brass a nod, and Grissom went to the next room and she preceded Brass into the interview room. Vincent Jones was already sat there, attorney present, looking as if he didn't have a care in the world. When Sara entered, he looked her up and down and smirked. She smiled down at him, knowing in a few seconds time, she'd personally wipe that smirk of his face.

"Mr, Jones." Brass started. "You know why you're here and I see you have already used your right to council." Jones didn't say anything. Sara's tolerance level was hanging by a thread, she had been on this case since shift started last night. She knew if this guy didn't confess, no matter what evidence they had, she'd be pulling another double.

"This is Sara Sidle, she's from the crime lab." Brass gestured to her. It was her time to talk.

"Good morning, Mr Jones. I apologies for dragging you out so early in the morning." Jones shrugged, as if it were completely normal for him to be out of bed at 3 o'clock in the morning. "Do you know this woman?" She asked, pushing a picture of Charlotte Smith towards him.

"Nope, sorry baby never seen her before." Jones replied, coolly.

"Are you sure?" Sara pressed. "You've never seen her before, or heard of the name Charlotte Smith?"

"Nope." He grinned at her.

"Then, why, Mr Jones, is your DNA on her body?" Sara watched the grin die from his face. They had him, she knew it.

*A/N: Have they really got him, or does Vincent Jones have a secret weapon up his sleeve. You'll wait for the next chapter to find out. Hope you enjoyed, please review.*


	4. Chapter 4

*A/N: Apologies for taking so long with this update. It's been hectic lately with Uni assignments, but Christmas is nearly upon us, so updates will be a bit more frequent. Thanks for stick with it. So, onto the next chapter.*

Chapter 4

The blood drained from Vincent Jones' face. Grissom watched Sara sit back slightly, in triumph, a smile playing across her face. Jones looked at his lawyer, who leaned forward to whisper something in his ear. Jones nodded and looked back to Sara.

"What do you want to know?" He asked, looking at Sara. She looked to Brass, who nodded. Sara was clearly going to take lead on this.

"How do you know Charlotte Smith?" She started.

"I don't" What Jones' reply.

"Sure you do." She said, smoothly.

"Listen to me, you stupid bitch-"

"Watch your language." Brass warned. Sara put her hand on his arm, Grissom couldn't help the surge of jealously that ran through him at that gesture. 'Calm down, Gil. You have no right to be jealous.' Strangely enough, that didn't work. He knew that there was nothing between Sara and Brass, except for friendship, but he could help but wish it was his arm under her hand at that moment. He would never tell her, but he remembered the time she brushed his cheek. His pulse shot right up at her touch, in fact, if it had stayed there he was sure he would have kissed her right then and there.

Sara took her hand away and turned her attention back to Jones, she clasped her hands together over the table and leaned on her elbows. Grissom watched her flip her hair back, with a move of her hair. He gripped his hands together as he watched Jones, watching her. His eyes travelled down her neck to her chest and it took all of Grissom's will power to stay where he was.

"Mr Jones, your blood was found on the victim and we found a 22 calibre bullet in the victim. Our lab is processing it." Sara opened the file in front of her. "I see here that you have a gun registered to yourself. A 22, if I'm not mistaken." She looked up, with that Sara smile. "How much are you willing to bet, that our lab is going to match the bullet form the victim to your gun?"

"Not a lot." He replied, coolly.

"Look, Miss Sidle." Jones' attorney, Mark Fitzgerald, spoke up. "All you've got on my client is DNA. Unless you can prove that the bullet came from his gun, there's nothing more you can ask of him." He went to stand.

"Hang on a second." Sara said, waving him back down. "Your client hasn't explained why his DNA was on our victim in the first place, it puts him at the scene." Grissom's chest blew out, she really was his best. Let's see him get out of this one.

"She's my girlfriend." Jones said.

"Bull shit." Grissom shouted. Sara and Brass exchanged looks.

"You told us that you didn't know her." Brass stated.

"Of course I would say that." Jones said, speaking as if her were talking to someone very slow. "You drag me in here, accusing me of murder. Of course I'm going to deny knowing her."

"Mr Jones," Sara cut in, before Brass could say anything more. "If she was your girlfriend, why didn't you say so earlier?"

"We haven't been dating for that long, I didn't want to get involved."

"In finding out who murdered your girlfriend?" Sara snorted, disbelievingly.

"We had a fight alright, she slapped me. That's how my DNA got on her." He leant forward. "I'm really sorry about what happened to her, I really am." He looked up, a convincing look of grief on his face. Grissom saw through it, so did Sara it seemed. She leant back and crossed her arms, glanced at Brass. The pair shared a look, the cop didn't seemed to believe him either.

"Now, if that's everything. We'll be going." Mr Fitzgerald said, standing. He tapped his client on the shoulder and the pair of them made their way out, Sara and Brass followed them. Grissom met them outside the door, he stood next to Sara as Jones turned around. He looked directly at her.

"I hope you find who did this."

"Don't worry." Sara said. "I will." They looked at each other, staring each other down. Jones was the first to break eye contact, he turned around and left the building with his attorney. Grissom watched Sara watch him leave, her eyes narrowed. Once he was out of sight, she turned round to face the men stood next to her. "He did this."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Sara." Grissom warned. "Get the evidence, it will speak for itself."

"Come on, Grissom. You can't tell me you don't think he's guilty."

"It doesn't matter what I think, it matters what the evidence says." As he said that, he couldn't help but think that she was right. Vincent Jones was guilty and, if he knew Sara, she was going to prove it. "Let's get back to the lab," Grissom suggested. "Have a look through what we've got." Sara nodded, looking him in the eye. When their eyes met he felt the similar flutter in his stomach.

"I'll get a warrant for his gun. We'll see if it matches the bullet you guys found." Brass said, getting his phone out. He nodded to the pair and walked away.

Grissom and Sara had been back at the lab for 12 hours when Brass called. "Grissom." Grissom answered his phone, Sara looked up. They were sat in the break room, after nagging her for hours, Grissom finally convinced Sara to take a break. She was sipping her cup of Greg's Blue Hawaiian coffee, watching Grissom speak to Brass.

"Who said that? Should have known." He paused for a second longer. "How long until you get it? Ok. No, we're both still here. Yeah, well I'll let you try and tell her that." Grissom shot her a look, smirking. She grinned back, guessing what Brass had just said. "We'll meet you there." Grissom hung up.

"What's happening?" Sara asked.

"Brass has had a bit of trouble getting the warrant. Apparently the DA doesn't think we have enough to invade his privacy."

"Turner?" Sara guessed. Chloe Turner was a pain in all of their backs, whenever you wanted a warrant she'd butt in making it almost impossible to get one without all the evidence before hand.

"Yeah. He's finally spoken to the judge, we'll head out in about an hour." Grissom said, sitting back down next to her.

"We're not going now?" Sara asked.

"No, you've only just gone on break. You need a time out."

"Time out? I'm not a child Grissom." Sara burst out in sudden anger. Grissom looked shocked. 'Good', she thought, 'I'm tired getting treated like a child.'

"I know that." He said, recovering from the shock of her outburst. Sara shook her head, she was tired. She didn't want to get into this now. She stood up and swilled out her coffee mug. "Why did you say that?" Grissom asked, she ignored him. "Sara?" He got up and walked over to her.

Sara kept her eyes forward, not looking at him. She could feel tears pricking her eyes. 'Please, don't cry.' She scolded herself. She couldn't cry in front of him, she had done that enough. The last time stuck in her head, she told him about her mother and he had held her hand.

She jumped a little when she felt his hand on her shoulder, he gently turned her around to face him. She kept her eyes down until he lifted her face, his knuckles under her chin. "Why did you say that, Sara?" He asked softly. She almost broke down at his tone and look.

Sara sighed, and turned away. "You see me as a child, Grissom."

"I don't-"

"You do." She cut in. "You look at me and all you see is the young girl from the forensic academy conference. I ask you out, you say no. We almost kiss, you run as fast as you can."

"You're the one who walked away." Grissom said, quietly. She turned and faced him, her voices softening as she said: "Only because it was painfully obvious you were happy at the interruption."

Grissom looked down. "I wasn't." He said it so quietly, she was sure she had misheard him. He took a deep breath, eyes still adverted as he seemed to struggle to find the words to say. "All I wanted was to close those last few millimetres, I was ready to give David a bit of my mind when you walked away." He shrugged. "I figured you didn't want it, not that I could blame you. You're young, beautiful. You could have your pick, why would you want to go for an old man like me."

Sara stood there, stunned. Never in her life did she think she'd ever hear those words, coming out of Gil Grissom's mouth. She was too far away from him, she wanted to move closer but help her ground. He looked so vulnerable at that moment, she needed to know she wasn't pushing him.

"Griss." She said, softly. "You're not old." He looked up and she smiled. He gave her that shy smile she loved, and she could see the relief behind it. She took a step towards him.

As she moved, her phone beeped. "We don't seem to have much luck, do we?" She tried to joke, feeling slightly frustrated that they were interrupted again. "It's Brass," She said, looking at her phone. "He needs us there now."

Grissom closed the gap between them and cupped her face. "We'll finish this conversation later." She nodded, and they both went to get their kits and left to meet Brass.

*A/N: So, I'm on a bit of a writing spree. I'll try and get the next chapter up tonight as well. Hope you enjoyed, please review!*


	5. Chapter 5

*A/N: So, I said I'd get the next one up tonight. Hope you enjoy, please review!*

Chapter 5

Grissom and Sara pulled up outside Vincent Jones' house, Brass was already waiting there with two officers. When they got out the SUV, Brass held up the warrant and waved it at them.

"All ready?" He asked, on their nod her turned and walked up the path towards the front door. Grissom and Sara followed behind him. Jones answered the door after the first knock.

"Captain Brass." He said, disappointedly. He looked round and caught Sara, his face split into a grin. "And Miss Sidle, how nice to see you again. Did you miss me?" He said flirtatiously. Grissom shifted uncomfortable beside Sara, she glanced at him form the corner of her eye.

"Mr Jones." Brass started, drawing his attention away from Sara. "We have a warrant for any fire arms in your possession, also, to search the premises." He handed him the warrant, Jones looked it over and nodded, not finding anything wrong with it. "If you'll step outside, we'll go downtown while the CSI's do their thing."

"I don't think so Captain. I'd rather stay here, you won't find anything." Jones said, confidently.

"Let us be the judge of that." Brass said, holding out his hand to escort him off the property. Grissom and Sara stepped back, letting him pass. Once he was out of earshot, Grissom and Sara turned to each other.

"Ok," Grissom said, "We probably have about an hour, until his lawyer puts a stop to this." Sara nodded, and walked into the house. She had been going for 24 hours already, one more won't make a difference.

Sara and Grissom split up, he went to the living room while she went upstairs to the master bedroom. She stopped on the threshold, taking in the room before her. It was masculine, the walls were navy blue and all the wood within were a dark mahogany. Walking in, she placed her kit on the chest of draws against the walls, got out her gloves and put them on.

Opening the draws, she looked through them, looking for any place he could hid a gun. After clearing the draws, she moved onto the closet. An hour later, Grissom came in. "Sara?" He called.

"Under here." Was her muffled reply. Grissom looked down and saw two legs poking out from under the bed. Sara crawled out. "Give me a hand with this." She requested, as she stood up. Grissom nodded, put his kit down and grasped the other side of the bed. "Ready? One, two, three." The pair of them moved the bed out the way, with difficulty.

"Why didn't you do this earlier?" He asked, she just gave him a look. "You could have called me up." He suggested. She only rolled her eyes and got down on her hands and knees, flashlight in hand. Her eyes narrowing as she searched. "What are you looking for?" Grissom asked, joining her on the floor.

"I don't really know." She replied. "I've looked everywhere and haven't found anything."

"What possessed you to check under the bed?" He asked.

"The bed was off the grooves in the carpet, only slightly. I photographed it." She said pointing to her camera. Grissom picked it up and started looking through her photos. "I figured he moved the bed for something."

"He could have just been cleaning." Grissom suggested.

"Possibly." Was the only reply she gave him. Her gloved hand ran over the carpet, picking up old dust. He definitely wasn't cleaning. She saw Grissom put her camera down, out of the corner of her eye, and join her in searching.

"Sara." He called her after a minute. She looked up, he was holding a flap of carpeting. He looked up at her and they shared a smile. Crawling over to him, she grabbed the edge and pulled it up. What was revealed was a small safe, probably 8 by 10 in size. Sara smiled in triumph. "I'll call the lab." Grissom said. "See if I can get someone down here to open this."

He got up, leaving Sara alone by the safe. She got out her phone and called Brass. "Jim? It's Sara."

"Sara, what's going on?"

"We think we've found something. Do you think you could buy us some more time?" She asked.

"Sure, how long do you need?"

"An hour, maybe 2?"

"I'll see what I can do." He said, they hung up and Sara got up. Grissom turned round, hanging up his phone.

"They'll be here in about 15 minutes."

"Did you find anything?" She asked of him. He shook his head. Sara sighed, she didn't really expect him too. They made their way out of the house, heading towards their SUV. Sara turned her laptop on and plugged her camera in, Grissom took out his clipboard and completed his crime scene notes.

15 minutes later, Greg arrived. He got out of his SUV, carrying his kit. "Greg?" Sara called in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Grissom said you needed someone to open a safe."

"So you came." She said, in disbelief.

"Yes." Greg replied, a little offended. "I'll have you know I'm an excellent safe cracker. Grandma Olaf taught me.

"You're grandmother?"

"Yes. She was a woman of many talents, Sara Sidle. And so am I, don't you forget it." He added with a wink.

"A woman of many talents?" She teased, she pursed her lips and tried not to laugh at the look on Greg's face. She turned round to Grissom, there was an unreadable expression on his face. She frowned a little, he looked up and looked straight passed her at Greg. She almost laughed when she really saw his face, if she didn't know any better she'd think that Gil Grissom was jealous.

"Where to, Boss?" Greg asked Grissom, who just beckoned his finger and walked away. Greg gave Sara a 'what did I do?' look and followed after him. Sara shook her head and entered the house after Greg and walked a step behind him as he ascended the stairs.

They entered the bedroom and Greg walked over to the safe. Sara watched him examine it, as Grissom asked: "How long do you think it'll take you to open it?"

"Half hour? Maybe less." Greg answered. Sara smiled, but decided not to tease him. After all, she had no idea how to crack a safe. If she had her way, she'd just take a sledge hammer and smash it open. On that thought, she wondered why they didn't just do that.

Before she could ask, Grissom started speaking again. "Great, Sara and I are going to grab something to eat while you're doing that. Call us once you're done." Before Greg could answer, Grissom took her by the arm and lead her outside. The put their kits in the back of the SUV before getting in the front, Grissom pulled away.

Sara looked over to him. "Why exactly have we left Greg alone at the crime scene?"

"He's not alone, there's two officers there. Besides, there's nothing we can do until he's got that safe open." Grissom said, nonchalantly.

"Ok, but we could have just pried it open or something." She said again.

"We could have, but if there's nothing in there and we broke the safe, we'd have to replace it. Ecklie would not be happy about that."

"Since when do you care about Ecklie?" Sara teased. Grissom didn't answer.

"Besides, you need a break. We're going to grab some food and then go back."

"I'm fine, Grissom." Sara said.

"Sara, you haven't stopped working since we've got this case. You've had one sandwich since starting shift last night, and only half hour sleep." This ended the conversation. She looked out the window, touched by his thoughtfulness.

She did want to get back to the case, there was something about Vincent Jones that got to her. He was sleazy, and far too forward. Not to mention guilty as hell. However, her stomach rumbled then, giving her away. Grissom looked over and raised his eyebrow, as if to say 'I told you so'.

Half an hour later, Greg called Grissom, letting him know he was done. After paying for their food, Grissom and Sara got back in the SUV and drove back to the crime scene. Sara was slightly disappointed, apart from asking her what she wanted to eat, Grissom hadn't said a word the entire time they were there. She was starting to think that he had changed his mind again, but then she remembered his eyes when they looked at her in the break room. He couldn't have changed his mind. Right?

They had been going for 26 hours now, and he hadn't gone home. He had stayed with her as she worked, he was probably just tired. They pulled up at the crime scene again. Getting their kits back out, they made their way back to the bedroom. Greg was stood in the door way, looking at his watch as they arrived.

"What took you guys so long?"

"You only called 7 minutes ago, Grego." Sara replied. "It's not as if we've been gone for hours." They shared a smile, Greg was a good friend. When she first arrived he had a little crush on her, but now there was only friendship. To which Sara was grateful, she like Greg and didn't want to hurt him. The three of them walked into the bedroom. Upon seeing the safe, Sara asked: "You didn't look?"

"Was waiting for you." He answered. Sara bent down, followed by Grissom. Greg stood back, watching from behind them. She opened the safe and smiled. She photographed what she found and then put her hand in, she pulled out a gun. A 22 calibre gun to be exact.

After photographing and collecting all the evidence from the safe, Sara, Grissom and Greg went back to the lab. Sara's first priority was the ballistics lab. She put the gun down.

"What's this?" Bobby Dawson, their resident gun guy, asked.

"Gun for my case, compare the bullets from this gun to the ones from my victim. Priority."

"Sure thing." Bobby took the gun and Sara made her way back to the break room. Grissom and Greg were in the layout room with the rest of the evidence. She sat down and, before she knew it, she was asleep.

Sara woke up to the sound of her pager going off. She looked down and saw a blanket covering her. She recognised that blanket, but she wasn't sure where from. Blinking a couple of times, to dispel the sleep from her eyes, she caught sight of the label. Grissom, it was Grissom's. She check her watch then. She threw herself off the sofa, the blanket and its owner forgotten. She had been asleep for three hours!

"Morning Sunshine." Nick greeted her, from his place at the counter.

"Nick! Why didn't anybody wake me?" Sara cried, smoothing her hair out of her face.

"Nice look." Nick teased. "Calm down, you needed to sleep. Besides, you looked so cute." If looks could kill, Nick would have dropped at the look Sara shot him. He put his hands up, in surrender. "Grissom would have killed any of us if we woke you." Sara rolled her eyes and ran to the ballistics lab.

"Sara, I've got your results. Sorry it took so long, Turner came in and-"

"I don't care, Bobby. What have you got?" Bobby looked shocked at her sharp tone. "Sorry." She apologised. "Long night." Bobby nodded and handed her the file. Her face lit into a smile. "We've got him." She patted Bobby on the back and ran to find Grissom.

He was just coming out of his office, when she caught up with him. "Griss." She called, he looked up from the file in his hand. "We've got a match, the bullet in our victim came from Jones' gun." She handed Grissom the file, watching him read. Grissom smiled, but that quickly changed into a frown. "What is it?" Sara asked.

"Well," He began. "We've got the evidence, but we're missing something."

"What?"

"Motive."

"Lovers quarrel? They were dating, a fight could have just ended wrong."

Grissom shook his head. "I don't think so. Brass sent this over." He handed her the file. "Apparently there is no connection between Vincent Jones and Charlotte Smith, none of her friends have heard of him."

"Secret boyfriend?" Sara suggested.

"I doubt it." Grissom said. "Charlotte already had a boyfriend, pretty serious as well." Sara stared at him, shocked. If Charlotte already had a boyfriend, then how the hell did Jones know her? An affair, maybe? She looked over the file, there was nothing there. Nothing that hinted at a connection to Jones. "I suggest we talk to Jones. It's the only way we're going to get answers." They left then, heading to the station. Grissom driving while Sara looked over the file, again. She didn't put it down until she was outside the interrogation room. Shutting the file, she stormed into the room, without looking at Grissom or Brass, who had come to meet them. Grissom and Brass followed her, she threw the files on the table and took a seat opposite Jones.

"Is this going to take long, Miss Sidle? You've kept my client here for almost the entire day." Mr Fitzgerald asked.

"Oh, he's gunna be here a lot longer than just one day." Sara said, smiling at them both as she opened the ballistics folder. "We found you're gun, Mr Jones. Hidden under your floorboards, it matched the weapon that killed Miss Smith. We don't really need a confession, we have all the forensic evidence to prosecute you."

"Then why are you here?" Jones asked, coolly. He didn't seem at all fazed by the fact he had just been caught red handed.

"Let's start with; why did you do it?" Brass asked from behind Sara. Grissom stood by the door, watching the scene in front of him.

"She was my girlfriend, we had an argument. It ended badly."

"That's a lie." Sara interjected. "We know that Charlotte Smith already had a boyfriend. So, we'll ask you again; why did you kill her?" Jones just sat there, blankly. "We're the two of you having an affair?" He said nothing, neither did his lawyer. After a few minutes, Mr Fitzgerald whispered in his ear, Jones nodded and Fitzgerald turned to Brass.

"He's willing to admit to the murder, but he won't say why."

"Why?" Sara asked.

"It's no fun that way." Jones answered her, smirking.

"Motive or no motive, we don't need it. You'll be going down for life." Grissom spoke up, for the first time since entering the room. Jones didn't even acknowledge him, his eyes were focused on Sara. That's when she saw it

"You were hired." She stated. "Weren't you? Who hired you?" Jones didn't reply, apart from raising his eyebrows slightly, he made no move to acknowledge her question. "I'll find out, you know."

"You'll try." He spoke then, venom coming out of every syllable her spoke. "You have no idea what you're messing with, lady. You look any deeper and you'll regret it."

"Are you threatening me?"

"I'm warning you." Jones smiled as she leant back. Grissom pushed away from the door then.

"We don't take threats lightly here." He warned the man opposite. Sara pushed up from her chair and left the room, Brass and Grissom followed. Once they were out of the room, Sara turned to them.

"He was hired by someone." She said.

"Ok, but by who?" Brass asked.

"Whoever it is, we won't find them by looking into him. There's too many options." Grissom observed. Sara's head started to hurt. Almost 48 hours with only a little sleep and barley any food was starting to catch up with her. "We need to go back to the victim, find out who had it in for her." Brass nodded.

"I'll get my guys to have a look into it." Brass replied. With that, he went back into the interrogation room. A few seconds later he re-emerged with Jones and his lawyer. Grissom pulled Sara back a little, to let them pass. Jones turned and looked at her, he smiled and Sara shudder slightly. His eyes were cold and his threat was still lingering within them. Chloe Turner, the DA walked round the corner then. She watched Brass take Jones away, before turning back to the CSI's in the corridor.

"You got your man then? Congratulations." She nodded to the pair of them, and walked away.

Once she had gone, Grissom turned around to Sara. "You need to go home. I'll sort out the paperwork here with Brass."

"No, I can help." She started to protest, but Grissom stopped her.

"Go home, Sara. Get some sleep, I'll see you back at the lab tonight." With that he handed her the keys to the SUV and turned her to the door.

"How will you get back?" She asked, looking at the key's in her hand.

"I'll get a lift with Brass." She looked at his face, his expression was unreadable again. He hesitated for a second, before turning and heading towards Brass' office. Sara turned the other direction, heading towards the car park. There was still a lot to do, but, for the moment, she was glad to be heading home.

*A/N: Ok, so this was another long one. But we're almost caught up with there we started. Not my best chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it. Please review! Next update will be soon.*


	6. Chapter 6

*A/N: Thank you, everyone who's reviewed. Your support means everything, I'm sorry to the people I haven't replied to, if you review on a guest account I can't reply, but know I appreciate it. Alright, soppy stuff over, onto the next chapter. Enjoy and please review!*

Chapter 6

Grissom and Brass sat in Brass' office, both going over paper work. Brass raised his eyes, looking over his friend, every few minutes. To anyone else, Grissom would look like he was engrossed in his work. Brass knew better, Grissom was concentrating alright, but it wasn't on work.

Brass was right, Grissom's thoughts were far away on a slim brunette currently packing up to head home at the lab. He couldn't get her words out of his head. 'You see me as a child, Grissom.' 'All you see is the young girl.' 'You run as fast as you can.' She was wrong, except for maybe the last one. He defiantly did not think of Sara as a child, he wasn't blind to the fact that she was years younger than he was. That was why he pushed her away, at least it was. She told him that it didn't matter, well she told him that he wasn't old. Which was the same thing, right?

"Alright Grissom, spill." Brass commanded, throwing his pen down on the file in front of him. Grissom glanced up.

"Spill what?" He asked, innocently.

"Cut the crap, Griss. What's going on?"

"Right now? Paper work." Grissom replied, sarcastically.

"You know what I mean. You could have done all this back at the lab, and yet you decide to do it here."

"Maybe I just like your company."

"My company, yeah sure." Brass snorted. "You've been here for half an hour and haven't said a word. You haven't even written anything down on that file." Grissom put said file on the desk, followed by his pen. Leaning back, he ran a hand through his greying hair. Why did Brass have to do this? Grissom didn't want to talk about Sara to anyone, let alone a guy who cares about her like a daughter.

"Gil," Brass continued, "What's going on?" Grissom just sat there, weighing up everything that he could say. He wasn't going to mention Sara, he knew that. What can he say? His mother was ill? No. Work was getting to him?

"It's," Grissom started, still not entirely sure where he was going with this.

"Sara?" Brass guessed. Grissom looked up, shocked. "Gil, come one. I am a detective." Grissom looked down, there was no getting away from it this time. He could deny it, but he was tired of that. Tired of pretending and tired of lying.

"Yes." He said, still not looking at his friend. He hated these kinds of conversations, never one to bare his emotions on his sleeve.

"Have you finally realised what we've all known for years?"

"What do you mean?"

"That Sara's crazy about you, why do you think she moved here?" Grissom smiled and let out a little laugh at that. "What, what did I say?" Brass asked as little confused.

"Nothing, it's just." Grissom started. "She said something like that to me before."

"And you didn't get the hint then?" Brass asked, incredulously.

"I've known for a while, why do you think I asked her here." Grissom said, surprised at his honesty. There's only one person he's ever been this honest with, only because she can see right through him. "I've never known what to do with it," Well, he's started, he might as well go the whole hog. "I know what I wanted, but I didn't, don't, know if it's the right thing."

"What's holding you back? The age difference? You job? Cos let me tell you, Grissom, they're just excuses." Brass picked up the photo of his daughter, Ellie. She was only a little girl in this picture, her hair blond with a bright smile on her face. "My job cost me the most important person in my life. I was too busy working, making a name for myself, I never realised what was going on at home. And now I've lost her, its taking all I have to rebuild bridges. I don't know it Ellie could ever forgive me." Brass put the photo back down and looked back to Grissom. "Trust me Gil, the job is not worth your family. And as for the age, if Sara doesn't care then neither should you."

Grissom was shocked at Brass' revelation. The two of them had discussed Ellie, but not like this. Never had Brass told Grissom just what he lost, they only talked about his worries for Ellie and her future. Brass had placed the photo so that it was facing Grissom and he couldn't take his eyes off the little blond girl. He knew Brass loved his daughter, more than anything, and he has seen first-hand the strain in their relationship.

"I, I'm not good with this kind of thing." Grissom said, racking his brain for the answer. He had never been able to be honest with Sara, apart from the odd moments when she breaks through. Today was the first time he had been completely honest with her, without talking in riddles.

"If you're looking for advice with what to say, I can't help you. I'm not exactly the master of romance. But I can say this; love is a risk and it's a risk worth taking. The only question you have to ask yourself is, is Sara worth the risk?"

This made Grissom think, he's not a risk taker with his personal life. The only risk he really took was with Heather, and that turned out alright. But, instead of gaining a romantic relationship, he gained a platonic one. He wasn't deaf to the rumours going around about him and Heather, but they had never been romantically involved. That first night in her mansion may have started off like that, but they never followed through. Instead, they talked. She told him about her daughter and he told her about Sara.

She is the only person in the world who knows how he truly feels about Sara, except Brass now. He couldn't understand how he can be so honest and open to Heather, but still keep his heart closed to the one woman he wants to give it to the most.

Yes, his last risk worked out quite well. But with Heather, it wasn't much of a risk. With Sara, it was all or nothing. He could get her, but loose the career he has spent his life building. Or he could get her and then loose her. Or, he could put himself out there to find out that he was too late, like she warned him all those years ago. Grissom didn't know which was worse; getting her then losing her, or being too late.

His career, he could do without. There were plenty of places he could go, he could teach, find another lap. His standing as a respected Anthropologist saving him. But what about her career? Sara loved her job, could he risk her job?

"You know, there are other jobs for her?" Brass' voice broke into his thoughts.

"Excuse me?" Grissom asked confused.

"You asked if you could risk her job. She's a great criminalist, she would have no problem finding a job with another lap. If it came to that." Grissom was shocked. Not with what Brass had said, he knows how good Sara is. No, Grissom was shock because he didn't realise had spoken allowed. "I'm hazarding a guess you didn't mean to say that out loud." A hint of amusement lining Brass' voice. The cop covered his mouth, attempting and failing to hide his smile.

Grissom shook his head, too embarrassed to find the situation funny. Brass composed himself, sensing his friends embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, Gil."

"Don't apologise, I didn't realise I was speaking allowed." Grissom gave himself a shake, pulling himself together. He really needed to pay more attention

"How long till shift ends?" Brass asked. Grissom looked at the clock on the desk.

"About an hour." He replied.

"Ok, here's what I suggest. Stay here, have some time to think about what you want. I'll drop you back at the lab when shift ends and then you do whatever it is you decide to do." Grissom thought about this, it was a fairly logical suggestion. He didn't need the hour to think though, he knew what he wanted. But, maybe an hour away would be good, he could never think clearly when she was around. And he really needed to work out how to go about this.

Grissom and Brass spent the next hour finishing up their paperwork, Grissom had his done in 10 minutes but used the rest of his time to plan what he would say when he saw her. Brass put his file away and looked up.

"You ready to go?" He asked. Grissom nodded. The two men left the office and made their way to the car park, in silence. Brass pulled the car on to the road, and headed towards the lab. "Have you made a decision?"

"Yes."

"Can I know what it is?" Grissom just stayed silent, he wasn't going to tell Brass before talking to the lady herself. Brass left it alone, which Grissom was grateful of. He was still trying to work out what he was going to say. Grissom had never been good with words, but Sara always managed to understand him. He hoped she would this time too.

They were just pulling into the labs carpark when Brass asked: "You know, with all this talk about Sara, I never got to ask. How is she? With this whole Jones thing?" Grissom didn't answer straight away, he didn't rightly know.

Brass put the car in park, but before he had a chance to leave Brass asked again. "So, how's Sara doing?"

"I'm not sure." Grissom replied, frustrated with himself. How could he forget to check up with her about something like this?

"Jones really had it in for her, didn't he?"

"Well, she was the one who put him away." Grissom said.

"Do you think he'll make good on his threat?" Brass asked, concerned. Like Grissom, he was berating himself for not checking up on her sooner.

"I'm not sure." Grissom said, with the same concern. "I'm hoping to talk to her, before she leaves. Make sure she's going to be careful." Grissom didn't want to think what would happen if Jones made good on his threat, just the thought of it filled him with panic. He was desperate to get in the lab, just to see that she really was ok.

Brass's radio went off then, Grissom said goodbye and got out the car. He hadn't gotten very far when his team came rushing out, all except the one he really wanted to see.

"Where's the fire, Cath." Grissom asked as the four of them ran up to him.

"Ecklie got a call, there's a shooting near Sara's. Officer in distress" Catherine said.

"Where's Sara?" Grissom asked, sharply.

"We don't know, she left about half an hour ago." Nick said.

"Has anyone tried calling her?"

"We've been calling her." Warrick said, his phone still to his ear. "She's not answering." Grissom's heart dropped to the pit of his stomach.

"Gil." Brass called from his car. "We've got to go, there's been a casualty. The EMT's are on their way." He looked at the team in front of him, wishing with everything he had he didn't have to say the next sentence. "It's Sara.

*A/N: So we have now come full circle. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I love having insights into Grissom's head. So, big question: what is going to happen to Sara? Next chapter will be up soon. Please review!*


	7. Chapter 7

*A/N: Thank you everyone for reviewing! So this update was very quick, I already had this one written. Next one will be soon. So, time for the next chapter. Hope you enjoy.*

Chapter 7

"It's Sara." Those words hammering in his ears as Grissom sat in Brass's car, heading to a scene he never wanted to go to. 'Please, let her be alright. Just let her be alright.' Grissom prayed, the only thing he could do at the moment. He gripped the door as Brass took a sharp turn. The siren was blaring, and all the cars in front of them moved to let them pass.

"Can't you go any faster?"

"I'm going as fast as I can Gil, she'll be fine." Grissom didn't believe him, he wanted to but all he could see was Sara lying on the floor surrounded by blood. 'No, she'll be fine. Please, let her be fine.'

Grissom and Brass pulled up at the scene, tiers screeching. Before Brass even had a chance to stop the car, Grissom was out and running towards the paramedics. There were two paramedic's huddled over a body, blood had covered the ground and the pool seemed to be getting bigger. Grissom's heart stopped, the sight too much like the one his imagination conducted. He slowed down when he was close enough to hear what they were saying.

"She's lost too much blood." One of the paramedic's said.

"We need to get her to the hospital, STAT." The other replied. He got up then, ran to the ambulance to get the stretcher.

Once the paramedic's had moved, Grissom was able to see who was on the floor. He almost fell to the ground when he realised it wasn't Sara. Releasing his breath, he put a shaky hand through his short hair and scanned his eyes across the crime scene, desperately trying to find the one person he wanted, no, needed to see.

The paramedics rushed past him then, carrying the old woman towards the ambulance.

"Maggie, my God! Maggie!" A man's voice came from his side, crying desperately. He had his arm in a sling and a bandage around his head, but he didn't seem to mind. The man ran past Grissom, towards the paramedic's. The paramedic who had just been working on him, followed quickly.

"Sir, please we must get her to the hospital." One of the paramedic's said, when the man grabbed hold of one of Maggie's hands.

"I'm going with her." He shouted in the paramedic's face. "I'm her husband." The man was sobbing again. Constantly stroking her hair and kissing her hands, as the paramedic's bundled them into the ambulance.

"Please, Mr Carson. We need to look you over properly." His paramedic said, soothingly. The paramedic's calm tone obviously didn't work on Mr Carson.

"You've already done that, I'm all bandaged up aren't I?" He shouted back. "I'm going with my wife." With that, he jumped in the back of the ambulance.

Grissom saw the man reach out to hold his wife's hand, as the paramedics closed the doors. He watched the ambulance go, that was when he saw her.

Sara was led out on a stretcher, she was covered in blood. Grissom ran towards her, when he got there he saw that she was conscious and giving the paramedic's hell.

Sara was in the middle of arguing with one of the paramedic's when she sensed, more than heard or saw, Grissom. She turned to face him, the minute their eyes met he stumbled a little and grasped her hand. Her eye's scanned his face, taking in everything. She didn't think she'd ever see it again.

His eyes were doing the same, both set of hearts slowing to a normal pace in each other's presence.

"Hey, Griss." She said, softly. He smiled and cupped her face with his hand, kissing her forehead. She closed her eyes at his touch, her heart beat increasing again. She brought her hand up to his, gripping it with all her might. After everything that had that morning, he was a rock in the storm. Nothing so far had managed to steady her as much as his presence right now.

"Excuse me," The paramedic interrupted. "We must get Miss Sidle to the hospital." Grissom let go of her hand then and stood back, allowing the paramedics room to get to Sara.

"I told you, I'm fine." Sara spat with a mixture of frustration and pain. She was in a lot of pain, but she hated hospitals. She really didn't want to go, especially when it was nothing that a couple of painkillers wouldn't sort out. She looked up at Grissom, hoping for some support.

He was looking at her, studying her face. He knew she was in a lot of pain and, going by the amount on her clothes, bandages, sheets and pretty much everything around her, she had lost a lot of blood. He couldn't fathom why she would be refusing to go to the hospital, but there was no mistaking the fear in her eyes when the paramedic's mentioned it.

"Miss Sidle," The paramedic started, patiently. "You have three bullets in your body, plus a dozen or so other injuries that need to be checked out. I'm sorry, but you don't have much of a choice." This was all said kindly, but there was no mistaking the authority in the paramedic's voice.

Grissom saw that she was going to argue some more, so he stepped around the paramedic in front of him. He placed a hand on Sara's brow, gently stroking her temple. "It's ok, honey." He said, softly. "I'll go with you, but you need to go. And the sooner we get there, the sooner we can go home."

Sara closed her eyes, and visibly relaxed, at his touch and his words. She really didn't want to go to the hospital, but she could see she was outnumbered. She opened her eyes and searched for his, meeting them she saw he meant it. He would be there, the whole time. With that knowledge, she nodded.

As soon as they saw her nod, the paramedic's didn't waste any time. The bundled Sara into the ambulance, leaving Grissom to follow behind them. Brass, Catherine, Warrick, Nick and Greg all ran up to them as Grissom was getting into the ambulance.

"Gil, is she-" Catherine started.

"She's ok" He cut her off, before she could work herself into a panic. "Their taking her to the hospital, she's been shot but is conscious and giving them hell." The team let out a collective sigh when they heard that. Nick and Greg smirked a little at the last bit.

"That sounds like Sara." Warrick said, laughing a little with relief. He threw his arm around Catherine, supporting her as her legs shook.

"Cath, I'm going with her. You take the scene, start processing and I'll call you when I have news." Before he could finish giving out orders, the equipment in the ambulance started going crazy. What happened next happened so fast none of them could tell what was going on.

"Her heart rate is spiking and her blood pressure has gone right down." The paramedic in the back shouted. "We need to go now."

Grissom was pushed back as both paramedics started working on her. "No time." One of them said. "Get us to the hospital now!" The other jumped out the back and ran round to the driver's seat. Grissom jumped into the back before they had a chance to close the doors. The ambulance's siren blasted out, but Grissom could barely hear it.

"What's going on?" He asked, panicking. Sara's face had completely drained of colour, the blood stain on her shoulder seemed to be getting bigger and the paramedic beside her was moving so fast, his movements almost blurred together.

"She's going into shock and whatever she used to stop the bleeding to her shoulder has moved. She's bleeding out."

"Well help her!" Grissom screamed at him.

"Sir, please. You're not helping."

"Then tell me what to do." Grissom pleaded with him. Desperate to do anything to save the woman in front of him.

"Place you hand here," He motioned to the bandage on her shoulder. "Put as much pressure on it as you can." Grissom hurried to do as he was told. Her warm blood seeped through the gauze and onto his hand, he could feel her slipping away.

'Please, honey. Hold on.' Grissom begged her. Using all his strength on her shoulder.

The journey to the hospital seemed to take hours rather than minutes. Once they arrived, Grissom jumped out of the way, while the paramedics rushed her into the building.

Grissom ran behind them, helpless as to what to do. All he could do was listen.

"Female, 35, gunshot wounds to the shoulder, abdomen and left thigh. She was conscious and coherent, but her heart rate has spiked and her blood pressure has dropped." Grissom listened as the paramedics gave their assessment to the doctors and nurses running with them.

They ran through the doors to the operating theatre, Grissom was stopped then by one of the nurses. He just watched them through the doors. He put a hand, covered in Sara's blood, over his mouth. Desperately trying to keep it together as he saw them disappear into one of the rooms, taking his heart with them.

*A/N: I'm not a doctor or nurse or anything like that, so all my knowledge on medical information comes from internet research. Any mistakes are mine. This was a pretty short one, next one will be longer. Hope you enjoyed. Please review!*


	8. Chapter 8

*A/N: Sorry for the long wait for the update. Thanks for being patent with me. Hope you enjoy and, as always, please review!*

Chapter 8

"Female, 35, gunshot wounds to the shoulder, abdomen and left thigh. She was conscious and coherent, but her heart rate has spiked and her blood pressure has dropped." The voices ran through Sara's head, she didn't quite understand what was going on. Muffled voices were all around her, banging, like doors against a wall, echoed in her ears. She didn't understand, she remembered gunfire.

Sara got to her car, digging in her pocket for her keys. The first bullet flew as she opened her car door. She dropped to the floor as her windows shattered. As more bullets flew past her, Sara took cover behind her car. She pulled her gun out of its holster, peaking out over her car to get a better view of her attackers.

She saw two men in black hoddies by a black SUV across the street, both were carrying automatic weapons. She ducked back down as they opened fire again. The glass from the diner window flew all over the place, Sara covered her head as a few pieces flew at her. She felt the glass rip at her jacket and into her skin. As the last piece of glass clattered on the floor she uncovered her face and threw herself up on the bonnet, letting of a few rounds of her own. The men ducked for cover as she blasted out their windows.

Her gun clicked and she fell back behind her car, she released the magazine and replaced it with a new one from her holster. Clicking it back into place she held the gun up ready as a new round of bullets came flying at her.

"Sara!" Sara looked round as she heard her name. Maggie was running towards her, she fell to the ground as a bullet hit the window behind her.

"Maggie!" Sara shouted. She jumped up and ran to the older woman. Maggie got up as Sara reached her. "Stay down." Sara yelled, pushing her to the ground as more bullets flew past. One ripped through her shoulder. Sara cried out in pain as blood rushed out of the wound.

"Sara, are you ok?" Maggie cried, holding the younger woman in support.

"We need to get cover." Sara yelled over the noise, pointing to a nearby car. The women ran towards the car, Sara gripping her right arm in support. She threw Maggie behind the car and fell beside her. Gritting her teeth, Sara took off her jacket to inspect the wound. "Call 911." She said, letting out a gasp of pain as she shifted her wounded shoulder. "Tell them 'officer in distress' and get them here ASAP." Maggie nodded and Sara passed her phone over.

Maggie was just dialling when another round hit them, Sara gritted her teeth and used her good arm to fire back. She heard a cry of pain, looking back she saw one of the men drop. But the looks of things she didn't kill him, just wounded. She leant back on the car and saw Mark, he poked his head out the door.

"Maggie, Sara!" He yelled. "Over here quickly." He waved them over. Maggie noticed him and got up.

"Maggie, no!" Sara called as the older woman ran towards her husband. Sara got up and ran after her as more bullets zoomed past. She threw herself on top of Maggie as another bullet ripped through her thigh. She let out another cry as pain shot through both her shoulder and leg. "Maggie come on. We've got to move." Sara lifted herself up slightly, then fell back down as her arm gave way. Mark came running over to them, he grabbed Sara by the arm and she cried out in pain. She hobbled over to the next car, as Mark lifted Maggie.

Sara's heart stopped as she saw the growing red stain on Maggie's apron. Mark dropped Maggie next to Sara, he fell next to her. He took off his jacket and pressed it against Maggie's wound.

"Maggie honey, please." He pleaded with her. Sara watched clutching her bleeding leg. Maggie opened her eyes, and both Sara and Mark let out a relieved breath. They sat her up against the car and she clung onto her side. Mark then turned to Sara, her jacket was already coated in blood from her shoulder. She took it off her shoulder and handed it to him.

"Tie it around my leg, tightly." She said, her breath short and sharp as she tried to contain the pain.

"I'm sorry Sara. That was stupid." Sara looked to Maggie, the older woman was watching her with regret. Sara couldn't be angry with her if she tried, Maggie was terrified. It was the only reason she ran, even cops who have training for this sort of thing would run every now and then. Sara gasped as Mark tightened her jacket around her leg.

"I'm sorry." Mark said, wiping her blood onto his jean. Sara nodded, she ripped the bottom of her t-shirt and pulled out a packet of tissues from her jacket pocket. She stuffed a wad of tissues onto her shoulder wound and Mark tied the strip of fabric around it, holding the tissue in place.

"Ok, listen to me. I'm going to run over there and draw their fire. Once I've done that, you two need to run back into the diner and call the cops." She looked between the two of them, they both looked ready to argue. "Do you understand?" She asked before they could open their mouths.

"Sara, you can't." Mark said.

"It's too dangerous." Maggie put in. Both of them were scared, so was Sara. But she couldn't let them know that, she needed to focus on what to do.

"Listen to me. I'll be fine, just get to the diner." And with that, Sara pulled herself up and ran as best she could on her injured leg. She didn't turn around to see if Mark and Maggie had done as she asked, she fired a couple of rounds from her gun as she left her covering and threw herself behind another car. The glass smashed around her and she covered her head, more glass ripped into her skin that was no longer protected by her jacket.

She heard a scream from across the car park, she looked round and saw Maggie fall to the ground again as another bullet hit her body. Mark dove behind a car, his eyes trained on his wife. Sara saw him get up to move. "Mark." She shouted. "Stay where you are." Mark looked up at her and then back to his wife. "You won't help her by getting yourself killed." He didn't take his eyes off his wife, but Sara saw him nod. She fired a couple more bullets to give her come cover, and then ran to Maggie. Before she got to her, a bullet hit her.

The next thing she knew, she was lying on a stretcher. All around her were blue and red lights, Sara looked to her right and saw two paramedics running towards someone lying on the ground. No, it can't be. Sara tried to sit up, craning her neck to see.

"Please, miss. Don't move." A paramedic said to her, pushing her back on the stretcher. "Now, what's your name?"

"Is she alright?" Sara asked, ignoring the question.

"Please, miss. I need to check you over."

"No." Sara said, pushing herself back up again. "Maggie, Maggie are you ok?"

"Please, she's stable. For the moment, let us do our job." Sara fell back in relief, regretting it the moment she did as pain shot up her body. "Easy." The paramedic warned. "Now, what's your name?"

"Sara?" Detective Vartann ran up to her. "Are you ok?"

"Vartann! I'm fine." Sara asked, sitting back up as the Detective reached her.

"Do you know her?" The paramedic asked.

"This is Sara Sidle, CSI." Vartann said to the paramedic, who nodded and made a note on his incident sheet. "What happened?" Vartann asked.

"I don't know." Sara replied, trying to work it out herself. "I was just heading home, two men in a black SUV shot at me from across the road. I didn't get a number plate." Vartann nodded.

"I've called it in. Brass is on his way, you get yourself to the hospital. I'll meet you there and we can go over your statement." He nodded to the paramedic behind her and walked away.

"Hospital?" Sara asked, sitting up. There was no way they were getting her to a hospital. Sara was in the middle of arguing with one of the paramedic's when she sensed, more than heard or saw, Grissom. She turned to face him, the minute their eyes met he stumbled a little and grasped her hand. Her eye's scanned his face, taking in everything. She didn't think she'd ever see it again.

"Hey, Griss." She said, softly. He smiled and cupped her face with his hand, kissing her forehead. She closed her eyes at his touch, her heart beat increasing again. She brought her hand up to his, gripping it with all her might. After everything that had happened that morning, he was a rock in the storm. Nothing so far had managed to steady her as much as his presence right now.

"Excuse me," The paramedic interrupted. "We must get Miss Sidle to the hospital." Grissom let go of her hand then and stood back, allowing the paramedics room to get to Sara.

"I told you, I'm fine." Sara spat with a mixture of frustration and pain. She was in a lot of pain, but she hated hospitals. She really didn't want to go, especially when it was nothing that a couple of painkillers wouldn't sort out. She looked up at Grissom, hoping for some support.

"Miss Sidle," The paramedic started, patiently. "You have three bullets in your body, plus a dozen or so other injuries that need to be checked out. I'm sorry, but you don't have much of a choice." This was all said kindly, but there was no mistaking the authority in the paramedic's voice.

"It's ok, honey." Grissom said, softly. Sara was shocked at the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes. "I'll go with you, but you need to go. And the sooner we get there, the sooner we can go home."

Sara closed her eyes, and visibly relaxed, at his touch and his words. She really didn't want to go to the hospital, but she could see she was outnumbered. She opened her eyes and searched for his, meeting them she saw he meant it. He would be there, the whole time. With that knowledge, she nodded.

As soon as they saw her nod, the paramedic's didn't waste any time. They bundled Sara into the ambulance, leaving Grissom to follow behind them.

As Sara was bundled into the ambulance, she lost sight of Grissom for a second. When he came back into view she saw he was speaking to the team.

She leant back on the stretcher, Grissom was here and everything was going to be ok. The pain in her shoulder seemed to increase, she tried to move her head towards the paramedic. She couldn't. She tried opening her mouth, but no sound came out. There was a flurry of movement around her, lighters were flashing and the paramedics were rushing around her.

She saw Grissom, he was worried. What was going on, Sara tried to move her head but nothing seemed to be working. The pain was getting too much, she closed her eyes. Her mind was screaming in agony. The ambulance was moving now, they were speeding. She hoped they were taking her to the hospital, she didn't like hospitals but she knew that was where the pain killers were.

"Please, honey, hold on." Grissom's voice seemed to seep into her mind, she tried to call out to him but couldn't. His voice kept her there, kept her holding on. She needed to fight, she had to see him again. The ambulance stopped and she was taking into the hospital.

"Female, 35, gunshot wounds to the shoulder, abdomen and left thigh. She was conscious and coherent, but her heart rate has spiked and her blood pressure has dropped." The voices ran through Sara's head, she didn't quite understand what was going on. Muffled voices were all around her, banging, like doors against a wall, echoed in her ears. She didn't understand, she remembered gunfire. That was the last conscious thought she had.

Grissom paced the waiting room, every now and then glancing at the door they took Sara through. How could this happen? She had to be alright. She told him once that one day he could be too late, he never imagined it could be because of this. He never thought it could be because she might, no he couldn't he couldn't think like that. She was going to be alright, she has to be.

Grissom collapsed in a chair, putting his head in his hands. His shoulders shaking with suppressed tears. She had to be ok. He had been waiting for hours now and was starting to lose hope.

"Mr. Grissom?" Grissom looked up, a nurse was standing by him. He stood and she approached him.

"Is she?" Grissom started, getting a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Miss Sidle is fine, she's just going into recovery now." Grissom collapsed in his chair, he felt like an entire weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "If you'd like to follow me, I'll take you to her." Grissom stood and followed the nurse. She took him down the corridor and into the recovery suite. In a small private room, Sara was led down. Grissom stopped in the doorway, his heart rate slowing down as he looked at her.

She was hooked up to a lot of machines, but her heart rate was steady and her breathing seemed even. "You can go in, Mr Grissom. As soon as she wakes up she'll be moved to another room." Grissom thanked her and walked into the room. He took a seat by her bead and picked up her hand, it was warm. That was a good sign. He put his other hand to her forehead and kissed it, holding his hand against her check, he whispered to her "I'm here, honey. Hold on."

30 minutes later, Grissom woke up. There was a pressure on his head, he blinked a couple of times trying to work out where he is. He saw the hospital blanket and lifted his head up, Sara was awake and looking at him. When he saw her he smiled, she looked good. There was colour in her checks, maybe not as much as he'd like, but much more than before. She was smiling at him, her hand resting in his hair. Her hand slipped to his check and held it, he brought his up to meet it and held it there. Closing his eyes at her touch. When he opened them again, he smiled grew.

"Hello Gilbert." She said, softly. He let out a small laugh and cupped her face, her hand gripped his check a little tighter and pulled him towards her. He didn't even try to hold back, he got off his chair and sat next to her. Their eyes locked as he leant over her, even as his head bent towards hers their eyes never wavered. The second their lips touched, his eyes closed in utter bliss. Her lips were soft yet firm, slightly cracked from the lack of water. He didn't push it too far, aware of the fact that she had just woken up from surgery. After a few seconds he pulled back, only slightly. He could still feel her breath as he leant his forehead onto hers.

"You were right." He said.

"About what?" Sara asked, confused. He pulled his head back to see her better, smiling.

"We never had good timing." Sara laughed at this as Grissom leant forward again.

*A/N: So, we finally had the kiss! Hope it didn't disappoint. Thanks for reading and please review!*


	9. Chapter 9

*A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews. On to the next chapter.*

Chapter 9

Grissom walked out of Sara's room. She had been moved to a privet room and was taking a nap. The doctors had told her that she would need to stay in the hospital for another week, but then she would be on bed rest for the next 6 months. Grissom was looking forward to having Sara to himself for 6 months, if she'd stay with him.

The two of them stayed in the recovery room for another hour before the doctors moved them. They didn't really talk much, Sara was pretty out of it. Grissom mainly watched her as she slept off the anaesthesia. He loved watching her, her face was calm and serene. There were no creases in her forehead from frowning, no stress lines. She was peaceful, she looked more like the young woman he met all those years ago.

Their job was stressful, and recently he'd seen it take its toll on Sara. He was worried about her, the whole team was. She had been working too much over time, she had to be confined to the lab on too many occasions because of that. Grissom practically had to force her to take time off after her DUI, even then she wasn't away for as long as she should have been.

Grissom banged the vending machine in the hospital waiting room, all he wanted was a chocolate bar. He hadn't had much to eat since the day before and his blood sugar was running low. The bar fell to the bottom and Grissom snatched it out before the machine took any more of his money. He ripped the wrapper open and tore a chunk of to eat. A satisfied moan escaped his lips.

"You wanna get a room with that, Gris?" Grissom almost choked on the piece of chocolate in his mouth, a small hand pounded him on the back. He turned around to see Catherine grinning at him. "I'm guessing, by the fact that you're out here making love to that chocolate bar, Sara's alright?" Underneath the teasing tone, Grissom could hear genuine concern for her friend. He could have smacked himself, he forgot to call the team.

Catherine must have misinterpreted the look on Grissom's face, as hers fell.

"She's fine, Cath." Grissom said, quickly. Catherine let out a shaky breath, patting her hand on Grissom's arm. "They've just taken her out of recovery. She's having a nap at the moment."

"Have you even gone home yet?" Catherine eyed Grissom, up and down. He was wearing the same clothes he had been for the past 3 days. Grissom only shrugged. "Not even to shower, man Gris. You stink."

"Gee, thanks Cath." Grissom replied, sarcasm framing his words. Catherine only smiled at her friend and colleague.

"I'll stay with Sara, you go home. Get some rest." She ordered, gently.

"I'm fine." He said, in his usual Grissom way.

"Gil, you're tired, you haven't eaten in how long?" Grissom only shrugged. "That's what I thought. Seriously Gil, go home. Have a shower at least, get changed." Catherine turned him around and pushed him towards the door. Grissom stopped and looked back towards Sara's room. He didn't want to leave her, he couldn't. Not after everything she's been through.

"Cath, I." Grissom started, not really knowing how he was going to explain his need to stay with Sara. He and Sara hadn't discussed what they were going to say to the team about the two of them, they hadn't even discussed what the two of them were. He had no idea what she wanted. He knew what he wanted, a relationship. To wake up with her every day, to learn everything there is to know about her. To tell her everything there is to know about him.

But, what about her? What did she want? Grissom really had no idea.

"I need to stay. Sara is my responsibility, I need to make sure she's ok." It wasn't a lie, not the whole truth but defiantly not a lie.

"She will be fine. You've just said she's out of recovery. I'll be here, the guys are coming over later." Catherine studied him for a few more seconds before adding. "Besides, you'll need to think of a better cover story if you want to stay with Sara without everyone finding out the real reason." Grissom looked at her in surprise.

"I-" He had to think really fast to counter this. "I don't know what you're talking about." 'Great Gil, good thinking. Like Catherine's gonna believe that, she knows you better than anyone.'

"Sure, Gil. You keep telling yourself that." Catherine gave him a sly smile and sauntered off to Sara's room. Grissom watched her go, debating what to do. He really could do with a shower and fresh set of clothes, but he didn't want to leave Sara.

He decided to go back and check on Sara, then head home. He walked down the corridor, dodging staff members as he went. He was just a few feet away when Sara's doctor came out of her room.

"Ah, Mr Grissom." Dr Lewis called, as she looked up. "There you are, Miss Sidle was worried you had gone home already."

"Not yet, Doc."

"Well, she's awake. I've just done an examination." She held up the clipboard in her hand.

"And?" Grissom asked, anxious to get any information he could.

"Well, I can't share much, as you know, but I can tell you; she can go home in about a week. As long as her healing keeps up with the rate it's going so far."

"Thank you." Grissom said, he moved past her to get to Sara. As he approached her door he noticed it was ajar, he could hear voices coming from within. Not one to loiter in doorways, he made a move to push the door open when he heard his name. He paused in his tracks, his ear straining to hear what was being said.

"Did you really send Grissom home?" Sara's voice floated through the door, she sounded tired. It couldn't have been long since she'd woken up.

"Yes, whether or not he'd listen to me is another question." Catherine joked.

"Do you think he will?" Was it just him, or did Sara sound a little edgy.

"Why do you ask?" Catherine asked, probingly.

"No reason." Sara avoided the question.

"Come off it Sara." If that were anyone in there, Catherine would know how to get the truth out of them without them even saying anything. But this is Sara, he didn't know anyone who could really read her, except maybe himself.

"Catherine, I don't know what you're getting at."

"Oh, please. Everyone can see, hell a blind man can see how you two feel about each other. If this didn't open your eye's I don't know what will." Catherine sounded frustrated, she wasn't getting anywhere.

"Why do you care so much?" Sara spat out, her frustration clearly growing as well. Grissom held his breath, and nearly pushed the door open then and there. Sara wasn't strong enough for this and Catherine was pushing far too much.

"Because I care about you, both of you." Was Catherine soft reply. Grissom stopped in surprise. He knew Catherine cared, but most of the time he just thought she was being nosey. But there was no mistaking her tone, she was telling the truth. He knew her well enough for that. "I've shocked you." He heard Catherine say, clearly Sara was in the same frame of mind he was. He heard Sara clear her voice before replying.

"Yes." Was her honest reply. Grissom could well believe it. Even though the two women got on well, they were never really close enough to warrant a statement like that.

"Well, I do. You guys have been miserable for ages, I don't know why. I don't know what happened between the two of you, but I guess I'm hoping you've worked it out." There was silence from the room. Grissom wished he was in the room, just to see the look on Sara's face. He wanted to know what she was thinking.

"We haven't really spoken about, well, anything" He heard Sara say.

"How come?" Catherine probed gently.

"I guess because we haven't really had time, what with the case and-"

"The fact that you've been avoiding each other?"

"I haven't been avoiding him."

"No, I guess you haven't been." They stayed silent for a few more seconds. Grissom stood there in indecision, he wanted to go in and see Sara. Yet he didn't want to interrupt them. "Do you know why he's been avoiding you?"

"I have a guess." Sara said, not letting on what that guess is.

"Can I venture an opinion?"

"Really, you wait till now to ask?" Sara retorted, teasing Catherine slightly.

"I know Gil, I've known him for a long time."

"I know that."

"He's in love with you." Grissom fell against the door, surprised at her statement. It wasn't untrue, but he had no idea Catherine knew let alone the fact that she would tell Sara before he could. He heard footsteps coming from the room. Realising his bump had alerted them to his presence, he quickly ran down the corridor. He jumped around the first corner not wanting to be caught eavesdropping.

Grissom leant against the wall, his breathing was slightly heavy as he berated himself. His phone vibrated in his pocket, he took it out and saw a text from Catherine. *When you're done eavesdropping, go home and get changed.* He hit his head against the wall, of course she knew it would be him. Another text came through. *Have a shower as well. You stink.* Grissom laughed in spite of himself and replied to her text.

*Yes mum!*

*Don't be cheeky, Gilbert.*

*I'm on my way home now. Be back in about a hour.* Grissom put his phone back in his pocket and pushed himself off the wall. He knew he should do as she said. Hailing a taxi, he was home within 20 minutes. Not for the first time, thankful he didn't live too far from the hospital or lab. He walked through the door and kicked his shoes off, looking longingly at his sofa. Not daring to sit, knowing the minute he did he would be asleep in seconds.

He pushed himself towards his bedroom, shredding his clothes and wrapping a towel around his waist. He past his chest-of-draws, pausing as a photograph caught his attention. It was a photo of Sara and himself, way back when they were in San Francisco. Immediately, this young brunette caught his attention. Not just because she was beautiful, but because she was the first person he'd met who had genuinely taken interest in his work and was able to keep up with him when he spoke about it. The pair of them had spent every day together since his first lecture, much to his delight.

It was safe to say, he was immediately attracted to her physical appearance but that was quickly equalled by her mind. She's intelligent, gentle, compassionate, tenacious and beautiful. All of which he found out in the first day of knowing her. He'd never forget the way she looked at him when she asked questions, nor the way her eye's shone when he complimented her.

When she first joined the team, she told him she was still trying to be his star pupil. It disheartened him for a while, he was convinced she only saw him as a teacher, a father figure. Just as Warrick, Nick and Greg did. That familiar insecurity came back as he studied the picture, even though he knew it wasn't true. She had assured him of that, still he could help thinking it.

He put the picture down and jumped into the shower. Washing quickly, he was washed, dress and out of the door in 15 minutes and headed back to the hospital. The taxi driver dropped him off at the entrance, Grissom paid him and got out the car. When he got to Sara's room, he heard multiple voices. Not waiting this time, he knocked on the door and pushed it open. Nick, Greg and Warrick were sat around Sara's bed. Sara was sat up, the colour in her checks was healthy. And her smile lit up her face, clearly whatever was just said made her laugh. No one looked up as he opened the door.

"Geeze, Greg. Take it easy on me!" Sara said, gasping a little as she laughed.

"Sorry, Sar." Greg laughed, Nick and Warrick were chuckling as well.

"Watch it, Greggo." Nick warned. "She may be hospitalised but she can still kick your ass." Greg put his hands up in the air, in surrender. Which made his friends laugh even more. Grissom closed the door, which gained their attention. The boys waved their hands in greeting, Sara leant back on her bed. She beamed at him. That sight alone warmed Grissom's heart.

"Sounds like fun in here." Grissom commented, moving towards the foot of Sara's bed. All the chairs around her were already taken.

"Maybe Grissom can solve our little debate." Greg piped up.

"Oh, I doubt that." Nick chuckled. Grissom looked between the 4 people in front of him, a frown creasing his face. He had missed something, which was obvious.

"Why don't you ask him?" Warrick was grinning. Grissom looked at Sara, hoping to find an answer there. She only smiled at him.

"Well, I told Sara she needs to get herself a boyfriend." Greg started.

"And why does she need that?" Grissom interjected.

"Oh, you know; care, companionship, someone to look after her." Greg lent back in his chair, as if he's just proven his point.

"I'm sure Sara can take care of herself." Grissom grinned, now understanding the threat of ass kicking.

"Yeah, she can. Still, she do with someone."

"And who would that someone be?" Grissom asked, already guessing the answer. Greg looked to Nick and Warrick, all three of them smirking. Grissom looked back to Sara, she only shook her head and closed her eyes.

"Well," Greg started. "There's a guy we all know."

"He works with us." Nick put in.

"Keeps to himself." Warrick added.

"Smart." Greg lent forward, his smirk growing.

"Great match for her." Nick smiled slyly. Grissom opened his mouth, not really sure if they were talking about who he thought they were any more.

"Ok guys, that's enough." Sara stopped them, lifting her head up off the pillow.

"Aw, look at her blush." Warrick teased. Sara picked up the stuffed teddy bear, on her bedside counter, and launched it at him. Warrick caught it easily and stood up. "Alright, girl. We best be off anyway." The three men stood around her, Nick gave her a one armed hug, which she reciprocated. Warrick pushed the teddy bear to her face, making kissing noises.

"Shove off." Sara said, laughing. She pushed the bear away, grinning at her friend. He bent down and hugged her also. Greg was last, he hugged her and whispered in her ear. He smirked at her and she laughed and pushed him away. Grissom watched the exchange, curious about what was said. The men were about to leave when Grissom stopped them.

"Before you go, what did you find at the crime scene?"

"Glass shards. They left the SUV. Cartridge casings. There wasn't much else." Warrick answered.

"It's all back at the lab, we're on our way there now." Nick finished. Grissom nodded.

"Let me know what you find. I'll be over later, just need to find out what the plan is for Sara first." The guys nodded, Greg sent a smirk to Sara while Nick and Warrick grinned at Grissom. They said their goodbyes and left Grissom and Sara alone. Grissom looked back to Sara, even more confused than ever. "What was that all about?"

"Nothing." Sara said, holding out her hand. Grissom walked over and took it, sitting in the chair closet to her. "The guys were just making assumptions."

"About who?" Grissom asked.

"You really don't know who they were talking about?" Sara looked shocked. Grissom shook his head. "Oh, Gilbert." She shook her head, laughing a little.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, now that the boys had left he could really study her.

"Better. I missed you when I woke up."

"I wanted to be here, but you woke up before I got back."

"Then Catherine got here, you started eavesdropping." Sara teased. Grissom looked away, blushing slightly. He still couldn't believe he got caught. "Who'd have known, Gill Grissom listening at key holes."

"In my defence, it wasn't a key hole. The door was open." Sara laughed at that and Grissom couldn't help himself, he leant forward and captured her lips with his own. It was only quick as he took her by surprise. The pause after was shorter, she quickly closed the gap again and the butterflies in his stomach returned. He lifted his hand and cupped her face, brushing his thumb across her cheek. Her fingers knotted in his hair, holding him firmly. Their lips moved in perfect sync. It was only their 3rd kiss, but it felt so right like they had been doing it for years.

Her tongue glided over his lips, which parted to allow her entry. Grissom could taste her, every single aspect. His tongue flicked over hers, both moving together. Sara pulled away slightly, both in need of some air. Grissom opened his eyes and gazed into hers, their noses still touching. He knew, he could live for all eternity but he would never find anything as beautiful as the brown orbs staring at him now.

Sara's hands moved to his neck, her fingers linked together behind. She kissed him again, but he pulled away. He didn't want to tax her, he could already see how tiered she was. She needed rest.

"Gil?" She questioned, confused.

"You're tiered, Honey. I don't want you to overdo it." Grissom's voice was soft, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek, her nose and forehead. She led back down, slightly out of breath. Grissom watched her, his heart pounding from their kiss. He always thought he was too old to feel like this, but Sara always had a way of proving him wrong.

"Gil, I'm sorry but I don't think I can stay awake." Sara said tiredly.

"It's ok, go to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up." Grissom kissed her forehead again as she closed her eyes. His phone rang. He stood silently and walked to the other side of the room, as to not disturb Sara. "Grissom."

"Gil, its Catherine."

"What's up Cath?" Grissom asked, still slightly embarrassed by his earlier behaviour.

"Are you at the hospital?"

"Yeah, why?" His embarrassment forgotten as he heard something in her voice.

"We've got the ballistics back from the guns." Catherine said, quickly. "Do you remember that arms bust last year?"

"Yeah, the FBI busted a gun dealer hauling hundreds of automatics."

"Yes. They stored them in our evidence vault, before the judge ordered them destroyed."

"What's this got to do with Sara's shooting?" Grissom asked, a feeling of dread hitting the pit of his stomach.

"The casing we recovered from the scene, matched the same guns that were supposed to have been destroyed."

"How is that possible? The only people who have access to the evidence vault are cops or criminalists." Before Catherine said it, Grissom knew what the answer was.

"Right. Gris, I think this was someone on the indside."

*A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next one will be up soon. Please review, it's what keeps us writers going! Thanks :-)*


	10. Chapter 10

*Thanks for your reviews. Sorry for the long waits in updates, things are crazy with uni and work! On to the next chapter. Hope you enjoy.*

Chapter 10

Grissom sat in the chair next to Sara's bed. His mind still whirling from his conversation with Catherine. Someone from the inside, someone they work with is targeting Sara. Grissom could feel the anger rising up inside him. How could _anyone_ want her dead, let alone someone who knows her? Grissom watched her sleep, she looked so peaceful. He dreaded the moment she woke up, he'd have to tell her. She was recovering, he didn't want to add any more stress to her than he needed to. Maybe he won't tell her, not yet anyway.

Grissom took his phone back out and stepped out of her room. He looked up and down the hall as the phone rang.

"Brass."

"Brass, it's Grissom."

"Gil, how's Sara?" The detective asked. Grissom could hear the concern in his voice and, not for the first time in the first time over these past couple of days, he was thankful for his friends and colleagues. They all cared for Sara, and Grissom was glad she had people lie that around her.

"She's doing as well as can be expected. The doctors want to keep her in for observation for a couple of weeks."

"Thank God."

"Listen, we've got a problem." Grissom started.

"Yeah, I know. Catherine called me."

"Do we have any idea who it could be?" Grissom asked anxiously. This person, whoever it was, knew how they worked. They would need to be careful.

"No." Grissom heard a door close over the phone, Brass must be going into his office. "Your guys are looking over the evidence. Vartann is looking at the evidence logs from the last couple of months."

"Vartann?" Brass could obviously hear the doubt in Grissom's voice.

"He's the only one I've spoken to. We're keeping this as close as possible." Brass said simply, but Grissom still had doubts. He trusted Brass and he trusted his judgement, if Brass trusted Vartann with this then Grissom should too, but his worry for Sara was overshadowing his logical thinking right now. "Gil, trust me. I wouldn't go to anyone I didn't completely trust."

"I know, Jim. I'm just worried." Grissom leant against the wall behind him. The last half hour was catching up with him and he let himself truly think about what could happen. "If something happens to her, Jim…"

"Nothing will happen. I'll put an officer on her door. She'll be fine."

"I'm gonna stay with her."

"You can't."

"Why not?" Grissom asked, what did Brass expect him to do?

"Gil, you're needed in the lab. There's nothing you can do there. Sara will be safe. I promise." Grissom knew he was right, and if someone did come in he wouldn't exactly be much help. Grissom was brains, not brawn. He could shoot, and shoot well, but he never carried his gun. There wasn't really much protection he could offer Sara.

Still, he felt better being with her. Seeing her, being able to touch her. He knew she was ok when he was with her, if he left he would spend the entire time wondering if she was alright. Brass obviously knew what Grissom was thinking.

"Gil, I promise you. I won't let anything happen to her."

"I know you won't, but I can't leave her." Grissom knew Brass was going to interrupt again, so he carried on before he had the chance. "For now, I'm going to stay with her. The guys can handle everything for now."

"Ok, I'm sending over an officer over anyway. You're much good in a fight." A laugh escaped Grissom at that statement. "What's so funny?" Brass asked, clearly confused.

"Nothing, it's just, I had the exact same thought not 2 seconds ago."

"Well, we all know it's true." The banter, albite brief, was enough to take Grissom's mind away from the situation. "I'll come over to see you guys later. Might even snag a little hospital lunch." Brass added.

"We'll see you later then. Keep my updated on anything that turns up."

"You know it." With that, the two men hung up. There was a part of Grissom that felt bad, he knew he should be at the lab but he just couldn't bring himself to leave Sara. Not now when she was in danger. Would the shooter comeback to finish her off? He didn't even want to think about that, but the logical part of him knew that it was a possibility.

He took one last glance up and down the corridor before re-entering Sara's room. He glanced over to the bed and saw that she was still sleeping. Crossing the room, he pulled up his chair closer to Sara's bed. He took her hand and brushed his lips against it, gently as to not wake her. Grissom knew that, even if he lived to be a hundred, he would never get tired of looking at her. She was so beautiful, and he still had doubts at how she could want someone like him and yet she did. Glancing down at his watch, he realised he hadn't slept in almost 72 hours. His body was finally catching up with him and he was tired. Looking once more at Sara, he decided to join her in sleep. He rested his head on her bed, her hand still in his, and was dead to the world within seconds.

* * *

Vincent Jones sat in the small interview room, its grey walls stained by the damp seeming through. He was restless, the guards didn't tell him who he was supposed to be meeting. They just dragged him out of his little cell and put him in here. With no watch, it was hard to say exactly how long he had been waiting, but Jones guessed about 30 minutes. Whoever it was clearly didn't care how long they made him wait.

His eye's flicked to the two-way mirror in front of him, he guessed whoever he was meeting was watching him through there. He was slouched on the chair, nonchalantly, the front legs lifted in the air, leaving all his weight to be balanced on the back. One foot was half on the floor, half against the leg, giving him support, while the other swung to and fro. After a few more seconds, the door swung open. Jones brought the front two legs down with a thud.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, his eyes flicking to the camera in the corner of the room.

"They're off." His visitor said, softly. "Do you think I'm stupid?" He eyed the person stood in front of him, yes. Yes he did think they were that stupid. Obviously he'd been wrong, this time at least.

"That doesn't answer my question; why are you here?" Jones didn't trust them, they had already broken their deal once, Jones wasn't going to take that chance again.

"The attack on Sara Sidle was stupid." His visitor commented, taking the seat opposite him.

"I had nothing to do with that." He said, leading forward a little on the table. They weren't going to pin that attack on cop on him. "You know that.

"Oh, I know. But you did leave a rather lasting impression on the cops investigating, threatening her wasn't the smartest move you've made." There was a hint of smugness in that soft voice, mixed with something else that made his skin crawl.

"Did you order that hit?" He asked.

"And why would I tell you if I did or not?" The visitor replied. Despite the look of confidence, Jones saw a flicker of panic in those cold blue eyes

"Because," Jones said, leaning back. His confidence returning as he regained control of the conversation. "Unlike you, I've kept our deal. So far I've told these guys nothing, but there's nothing to stop me making a slip up. Nothing to stop me slipping in a name which will lead them straight to you." There was no flicker this time, just straight out panic screaming from those eyes. Jones smiled.

"You wouldn't." The voice said, trying and failing to be confident.

"I'll tell you what; get me out of here and I won't breath a word. I'll even move, I've been wanting to get away from Vegas." Jones could see the clogs turning in the brain of the person opposite him, he knew it wouldn't be long before he got his way.

"I'll do a deal. I'll get you out of here, get all the charges dropped _if_ you keep your mouth shut and do me one last favour." The smugness had returned, not only to the voice but also the face opposite. Jones raised his eye brows.

"I'm listening."

"I want you to deal with the oafs who tried the first time and then get rid of Sara Sidle." He had been expecting this, since the first hit wasn't successful a second was needed. Obviously, his employer had realised their mistake in trusting boys.

"You want me to kill a cop?" He asked, just to clarify.

"She's not a cop, she's a criminalist."

"Same thing." Jones said, shrugging. "Why?"

"She's too nosey. I know how she works cases, she never gives up. To damn stubborn for her own good. I can't have her sniffing around. Make it look like someone she put away, turn the suspicion off you and keep her team away from Charlotte Smith."

"Yes boss." He gave the visitor a snarky smile as they stood. However, when they got to the door they paused and turned back to face him.

"This time, don't screw up. I won't bail you out a second time."

* * *

Sara woke to feel a slight pressure on her right side. Too tired to open her eyes, she moved her hand to find the source of the pressure. It didn't take long for her hand to reach a head full of soft hair, she knew in an instant who it was. She smiled to herself before opening her eyes, when she did however, she was surprised to see Greg there instead of Grissom.

She withdrew her hand quickly, it would be a little awkward if Greg woke up to find her playing with his hair. It would raise some questions Sara wasn't sure she wanted to answer. Such as: why was she playing with his hair and who did she think it was before she opened her eyes?

Sara shifted a little, trying to wake her younger colleague. It didn't work, Greg only moved his head and opened his mouth a little. A soft snore escaped his lips and Sara had to stifle a laugh. She couldn't help herself the next second, Greg snored again and this time it was extremely loud. Sara burst out laughing. The jolt of her body and the sound of her laugh was enough to wake Greg up.

He bolted up, blinking a little at the brightness of the room. He raised his hand to his eyes, rubbing them before dragging them back through his hair.

"Geeze, Sar. You could have woken me a little nicer." He said, sleepily. When he glanced over at her, however, his annoyed look changed to one of concern. "Are you alight?"

"Yes." Sara gasped. When she laughed, she jolted herself, aggravating her wounds. "It just hurts when I laugh." Tears were stinging her eyes, the pain was terrible. She hid her face, not wanting Greg to see her this weak. He, however, knew her better and before she knew it the nurse was entering the room.

"Is everything ok, Ms Sidle?" She asked, kindly.

"Yes, fine. Thank you." Sara replied through gritted teeth.

"She's in a lot of pain." Greg interjected. Sara threw him a filthy look.

"Ms Sidle, if you're in pain you need to tell us. We can give you something to make you more comfortable." The nurse had told her that a dozen times since she woke up, yet Sara still refused to call on her. She just wanted to get out and go home, staying drugged up on medication wasn't going to get her there, even if it did get rid of the pain.

It had been about 24 hours since her operation, and although she had spent most of that time asleep, Sara had tested the patience's of her doctors and nurses. She refused to call them when her painkillers wore off, which resulted in her passing out with pain. Sally, however, like her. Sara couldn't figure out why, maybe it was the age difference. Sally called herself the grandmother of the ward, maybe she just like to mother her patients.

"Sara." Sally called her, the use of her first name caught her attention. "If you don't call us when you're in pain I'll have to fit a drip." This was all said kindly, but Sara panicked. Sara Sidle wasn't scared of many things, but needles was one thing to make her run away in terror and the thought of having one placed in her arm for an indefinite period of time was enough to scare Sara out of her wits.

"No, you can't. I won't let you." Sara torn her arm away then, threw the blankets off that were covering her and tried to stand.

"Sara, you really should-" but Greg couldn't finish his sentence as Sara collapsed on him. She tried to stand up, but Greg held her tight and tried to put her back on the bed. Sally came round, trying to help but Sara was so far gone. Her panic over the needle had now increased because of the amount of people touching her and her inability to run away. She hated feeling like she had no control, after her father, she vowed to never feel that way again.

This was the scene Grissom walked in on. After surveying the situation for a second, he crossed the room. Tapping the shoulder of the nurse, he moved her out of the way.

"Sara?" He called gently. Sara's head instantly lifted on hearing his voice, if was so soft and calm she clung to it.

"Griss?" Sara called, not entirely sure where the sound came from. Her eyes were shut tight, trying, willing the pain to go away, she couldn't see where he was.

"I'm here." He said again and Sara felt his hands on her arms. She knew it was Grissom touching her now, his hands were bigger than Gregs, softer and much gentler yet firm. Sara flung herself at him, as best she could. She grabbed the front of his shirt as tightly as she could. She buried her head in his chest and a sob broke out. She was safe now, she could feel his arm around her, strong arms that made her feel protected. "Sit." Grissom said.

Grissom sat her back on the bed, without letting her go. She was sobbing uncontrollably now, the front of his shit was soon soaked with her tears. He didn't ask what was wrong, what happened to illicit such a reaction. He just held her until she cried herself to exhaustion.

Soon the hands grasping his shirt slackened, he peaked down at her face and saw she was sleeping. He lay her back on the bed, she had tear tracks all over her checks, her eyelids were red and, although he couldn't see them, he guessed her eyeballs would be the same. She was also in pain, he could tell by the tension in her face despite the fact that she was asleep.

Grissom turned to the nurse on the other side of Sara's bed, he also noticed Greg and somehow slipped out of the room. Grissom must remember to thank the younger man for his thoughtfulness. Sara was going to be embarrassed enough when she woke, she didn't need a witness to her little breakdown. He opened his mouth to ask the nurse a question, bust stopped him with a raise of her hand.

"Not just now, Mr Grissom. I need to give Sara her pain killers, it'll give her an easier sleep and make her more comfortable."

"Should you be doing that when she's asleep?" Grissom asked.

"No, but you saw what happened when I tried while she was awake." This stopped Grissom, Sara reacted like this because she had to take medicine? "Don't look so shocked." Sally said. "She's been through a massive trauma and it was going to manifest into something sooner or later. People who suffer a traumatic event, such as a gun fight and being shot 3 times, tend to overreact to an exciting fear. In Sara's case, she reacted the way she did because of her fear of needles and the effects the gun fight had on her."

"Sara's been in gun fights before." Grissom said, "She never reacted like this after any of those."

"Had she ever been hit before?"

"No." She hadn't, she had been blown up. In the lab explosion, even then she didn't react like this. Sure she put herself in unnecessary danger, but she never had a full scale panic attack.

"People respond to stress differently and differently at different times." Sally said, wisely.

"What should I do?" Grissom asked, looking down at the woman he loved, feeling a little helpless.

"Be there for her, she'll need to talk to someone. Also, it'll be good if you talk to her about taking medication. She's not going to get better without it." Grissom nodded and Sally left the room. He picked up the seat Greg had been sleeping in, it had fallen over in the struggle. Sitting down, next to Sara, he picked up her hand. He face seemed to be a little more relaxed, Grissom guessed that would be the drugs working.

Grissom brushed his thumb across the back of Sara's hand, still not really sure what to do.

*Again, sorry for the huge wait on the update. I can't say when the next one will be, I'm super busy at the moment. I will endeavour to get better though. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. As always, please review. Thanks for the patience.*


	11. Chapter 11

*AN: Thanks for the reviews, please keep them coming. Apologies for the delay in the uploads.*

Chapter 11

Sara woke up, her head was foggy. She couldn't remember what had happened, she knew Greg had come to see her, but she didn't remember falling asleep. There was something sticking in her arm, it was uncomfortable and irritating, she raised her hand to scratch it away.

"Woah there, don't do that." A voice broke through subconscious, dragging her away from her dream land.

"Gris?" She croaked, her throat was dry. Her eye's flicked open, she tried to shift herself up only to find a hand preventing her from doing so.

"Hey, don't do that. I'm here." She looked to her right, and, sure enough, he was there. Sat close to her bed, his left hand on her knee while his right held her down. "Relax." She did.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Well, you gave us all a bit of a fright."

"What happened?"

"You refused medication, then, when they told you you'd have to have a drip, you kind flipped out."

"A drip?" Her eyes widened and flicked down to her arm. "Oh, no." She scrambled to get the needle out of her, only to have Grissom capture her wrist.

"Sara, don't."

"Get it out, Grissom please." She struggled against him, he pinned her down.

"Sara, listen to me. Please," Grissom pleaded with her. "You need to have this drip."

"No, Grissom, I can't."

"Sara, please." Grissom held her down, his voice breaking through her panic. She stopped thrashing about and he brushed her hair out of her face. "Please listen to me. Are you listening?" She nodded. "You need to take your medication."

"I don't ne-"

"Listen to me, you do need you medication. You're in a lot of pain, you're not going to get any better if you don't take your meds."

"I don't like needles." She said, quietly. She hated Grissom seeing her like this, so weak and pathetic.

"I know you don't honey." He said, softly. "You don't need to have needles, if you took the pills they wouldn't need to do this." He gestured to her arm. She glanced at it and quickly looked away as a wave a nausea hit her. "Please take your medication."

Sara looked at him, her eyes scanning his face, trying to see if he was lying.

"No needles?" She asked, her eyes still looking for any form of a lie.

"No needles." He promised. She nodded and Grissom pressed the call button. A few moments later Sally walked through the door.

"Looks who's back with us," She said, good naturedly. "Well, Miss Sara, are you ready to take some medication." Sara looked to Grissom and back to the nurse, she nodded. "Wonderful. Let's get that drip out of you then, shall we?"

* * *

A week later, Sara was doing a lot better. So much so, the doctor was walking to her room, intending give her the good news that she could go home early. She hadn't refused any of her medication, had done everything they had asked her – well almost everything – she hadn't stopped working, but she did agree to do all her work from her bed, resting as much as she needed. Dr Grissom had helped a lot on that respect, if she wouldn't listen to them, she'd listen to him.

"Doctor Logan?" A nurse called, waving her over. The doctor changed her course, walking around the mail cart going past. "Mrs Lewins results have just come in, you said you wanted them as soon as they did."

"Yes, thank you Sally." Dr Logan said, walking away with the file I her hand. She glanced up and saw her colleague. "Dennis," she called. "Can you go and give Mrs Lewins her test results, I'm just going to see Ms Sidle."

"No problem, Doctor," The junior doctor replied, taking the file off her. Dr Logan carried on walking towards Sara's room, she was three doors down when she heard shouting coming from her room. She paused and looked up, that was when it happened.

The door was blasted away, fire following blowing up. The floor shook and Doctor Logan was blown off her feet, she could feel the heat coming from the room. The glass around her had shattered, showering everyone with small translucent bullets. The hall was filled with thick black smoke, making her eyes water and her throat burn. Through the ringing in her ears, she could hear the muffled sound of people running and shouting.

Doctor Logan opened her eyes, blinking so that they would go back into focus. The back of her head hurt, her back was stiff and her arm was at an awkward angle beneath her. Someone ran up to her, she could hear their voice but couldn't make out what they were saying. The next thing she knew, someone was pulling on her arm, sending pain all through her body. Blurry figures were running past her, her vision going in and out. Someone put a mask on her face and clean oxygen filled her burning lungs.

"Laney? Laney, can you hear me?" Dennis' voice came through, it sounded as if she was underwater. She tried to answer, but she couldn't get any words out. All she could do was grunt. Dennis flashed a light in her eyes, making them dilate from the brightness. "Vitals seem alright, get her on a gurney." She looked to her right; Sally was sat against the nurses desk, the side of her face was burnet, not too badly but bad enough. Two other nurses were sat with her, supporting burns and cuts. A couple of doctors, some members from the cleaning crew, visitors were also injured. No one in her line of vision seemed seriously injured.

"What happened?" She heard someone ask, the voice sounded familiar but she couldn't place it. Someone answer, but she couldn't hear what was said. People were around her now, they lifted her up onto a bed. She cried out as pain coursed through her body.

"Easy." Someone said, she looked around and saw Dennis again. "It's ok Laney, you're ok." He reassured her, placing a drip in her arm. Soon she could feel the morphine flow through her veins, encasing her in a cocoon of relief. Her eyes flickered shut, her mind drifting off into sleep.

Laney woke a few hours later, the beeping of a heart monitor sounded in her ears. The ringing had gone, but the sound was still muffled. She could hear footsteps walking around her, opening her eyes she saw the ceiling of one of the hospitals rooms. She blinked a few times, the rest of the room coming into focus. A nurse was checking the monitors. She blinked again and cleared her throat, it was still burning.

The nurse looked over.

"Doctor Logan, you're awake." She smiled at her. "You're going to be ok, a few burns and some smoke damage to your throat and lungs. Nothing too bad though, you'll be fine in a couple of days." As this was said, the nurse poured a glass of water, putting a straw in it and placing it by Laney's mouth. Laney took a few sips of water, wetting her dry mouth. "How are you feeling?"

"Ok?" She replied.

"You don't sound so sure of that," the nurse replied.

"A little pain, I guess," she said, slowly. It hurt to talk. The nurse pressed the morphine button on her drip, the medication went straight into her veins, instantly relieving her. "Thank, Connie."

Connie smiled at her, patted her knee and left the room. As she exited, someone else entered. The man was short, receding hairline, the hair that was there was turning grey. He looked familiar, he was one of the police men that visited Ms Sidle.

"Doctor Logan?" He asked, she nodded. "My names Captain Jim Brass. How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I guess."

"Would it be alright if I ask you a few questions?" Laney nodded. "Do you prefer Laney or Doctor Logan?

"I don't mind."

"Laney then."

"Is everyone else ok?" She asked, before he could say anything else. "Ms Sidle? Dr Grissom? The blast came from her room."

"Laney, did you see anyone go near her room?"

"Just some guy handing out the mail. Are they ok?"

"Do you know what this guy looks like?" Brass asked.

"Yes, tall, dark hair, black. He works here. Captain, what happened to Ms Sidle and Dr Grissom?"

* * *

A few hours earlier.

"Grissom?"

"Catherine, what's up?" Grissom replied, placing his cards face down on Sara's lunch tray. The pair had been playing poker for the last hour, Sara's pile of gummy bears was piling up. He glanced over and she smirked at him, picking up a gummy bear and popping it in her mouth. "You're cheating."

"Nope" She said, grinning at him.

"I'll prove it."

"Um, Gris?" Catherine said, over the phone.

"Sorry, Cath. What's up?" He asked turning away from Sara's smiling face.

"We've got a break."

"We have?" He turned back to Sara, putting the phone on speaker.

"Archie has been digging into Charlotte Smith's family."

"I didn't think she had any family?" Sara questioned.

"She does. Charlotte Smith's real name is Charlotte Watkins. Mother died when she was 9, father lives in DC. She has one brother, Darrel Watkins."

"Why the change of name?" Grissom asked.

"Brass got a warrant for her medical records. There were numerous trips to the hospital, broken bones, concussion."

"Child abuse." Sara stated.

"That's what it looks like. She got out of DC, changed her name. Moved to Vegas last year, her brother joined her 6 months ago. You'll never guess where he worked."

"Where?" Sara and Grissom asked together.

"DA's office. Chloe Turner's assistant."

"He didn't report her missing? That's odd." Sara looked over at Grissom, they shared a look.

"Where is he?" Grissom asked.

"Europe, London to be exact. Archie found flight information, he's been there for 2 weeks. Due home tomorrow. Brass' calling him."

"Thanks Cath." Grissom hung up the phone then. "What are you thinking?" He asked, looking over at Sara.

"I'm thinking, I want to speak to Mrs Turner."

"You sure it's a good idea to go poking the bear without evidence?"

"I wasn't going to accuse her of anything." Grissom gave her a sceptical look. "I just want to know why she didn't tell us it was her assistant's sister in our morgue."

"Maybe she didn't know," he suggested.

"Come on Gris, do you honestly believe that?"

"No, but you're not going anywhere. Not until the doctors clear you for duty," Grissom told her, sitting back down, picking his cards up.

"I'm gonna go crazy if I stay here any longer."

"That's why I'm here." He picked through his cards. "Your deal." Sara dealt out the hand.

"That's the only reason you're here?" She asked, exchanging one of her cards.

"No." Exchanged a card. "I'm in." He put 10 gummy bears in the middle.

Sara watched him, he looked up at her through his glasses. His dark eyes darting between hers.

"Call." They laid out their cards, Grissom won the pot.

"Sara-"

"It's ok, Gris."

"No, I need to say this."

"No, you don't. It's ok." She said, picking the cards up and shuffling them. Grissom took them from her hands, placed them on the tray and pushed it away. Sara put her hands together in her lap, staring at the door.

"Do you honestly not know the extent of my feelings for you?" He picked up her hand, holding it gently in his own. "Sara, look at me. Please." She did, he could see tears pooling in her eyes. "I'm, I'm not good with saying how I feel. I've never been good at it." He paused, trying to gain the courage to say what he had wanted to say for years.

"I know, Gris. You don't need to-"

"Yes, yes I do. Not just for you, for me as well. I need to say this." He cupped her cheek in his hand, brushing his thumb across her skin. "I love you. I've loved you for years, I've just been denying it. Running away from it."

"Why?" She asked softly.

"Fear, I guess. You're young, beautiful, and I'm… Well." He smiled, a little uncomfortable. He wasn't used to being so open about his feelings. He dropped his hand and looked down at his other, still cradling hers. His eye's shot up when he felt her free hand touch his cheek. She smiled and leaned forward, pressing her lips softly against his. His hand found its way to her hair as the kiss deepened, her hands locked round his neck. She pulled him over until he was sat on her bed.

Grissom's hand made it down to her waist, pulling her hospital gown up a little, while Sara brought hers round to his chest, pulling on it, keeping him close. Her fingers started working on his buttons when he pulled away.

"Gris?" She opened her eyes to find his staring at her. He kissed her lightly again before pulling away.

"Honey, now really isn't the place and you're still not up for anything strenuous."

"Strenuous? How romantic."

"Sara." He warned.

"Fine." She said, good-naturedly, leaning back in her bed. She let go of Grissom's shirt, he moved to stand up. "Uhuh, that doesn't mean you have to move." She said, grinning at him. He grinned back, sitting back on her bed. Sara pulled the tray back over. "Your deal?"

The pair went back to their game, stopping when the mailman knocked on the door. Sara called for him to enter.

"Hey John." She said as the black man entered.

"Hey Sara, got something for you." He handed her a parcel.

"Thank you." She took the parcel, exchanging a curious and excited look.

"Get better." John said as he exited. Sara ripped the tape from the top, pulling the flaps from the top. There was some paper in the box, she took it out and froze.

"Sara?" Grissom looked over, in the box was a bomb, a timer counting down.

16

15

14

"Sara, give me the box."

12

11

"Sara, give me the box."

9

Grissom took the box off her.

5

4

He ran over to the window and opened it. No one was there.

3

2

1

*AN: Sorry for the cliff hanger. Well, not sorry really. :-) Please review!*


	12. Chapter 12

*AN: Ok, so next chapter. Thanks for all the reviews, we'll be getting a few answers here. Gonna be mainly case related. Hope you enjoy and please review.*

Chapter 12

Brass walked out of Laney Logan's room, leaving the doctor in the capable hands of her colleagues. He put his note book in his jacket pocket, and made his way to the floor above. Dr Logan's floor was packed with victims of the explosion, luckily it wasn't so big. There was only a two serious casualties, everyone else had superficial injuries that they would recover from in a matter of weeks, if that.

He made his way to the floor above, meeting Catherine as he stepped through the door. Slightly out of breath from climbing the stairs, two steps at a time. Everybody was rushing around, desperate to find some answers.

"Cath!" He called. The CSI looked over, excused herself from the crime tech she was talking too and walked over. "What have you found?"

"Nick and Greg are going over the bomb fragments with the Bomb Squad, it doesn't look like it was very big. Warrick's looking into the security video, seeing if he can find who placed the bomb," Catharine said, her gloved hand was flicking through her notes franticly.

"Tell him to look out for the mailman, just spoke with Dr Logan. She was Sara's doctor." The pair paused there, Brass could see Catherine was trying to keep herself together. He was struggling with it himself. "Dr Logan said she saw the mailman go into Sara's room just before the explosion, I'm gonna get Vartann to track him down. I want to talk to him." Brass' voice had become dangerously dark on that last sentence.

"Will do. We'll get them, Brass. Whoever this is, we'll get them." Catherine put a hand on his arm, the pair shared a look. Brass didn't really know how he was feeling, but he was glad Catherine seemed to keeping a cool head.

"I'm going to talk to Jones," Brass said.

"You think he's behind this?"

"No, I think whoever hired him is. We need to find out who that was," Brass said as he got out his phone and put it to his ear. "This is Captain Jim Brass, I want to speak with an inmate. Vincent Jones."

"I'm sorry, Captain," The man over the phone said. "Mr Jones is no longer an inmate, he posted bail 3 days ago."

"He what?" Brass shouted down the phone.

"He posted bail 3 days ago."

"Why wasn't I informed? This guy threatened one of my people, I should have been told the minuet he got out. You know what, forget about that. Why was he granted bail in the first place? He was in for murder, about to go to trial."

"I don't know sir," the officer replied.

"Whatever, send me his information, I want to know where he is now," Brass shut off his phone, clenching it in his fist. It took all his restraint to not punch the wall.

"What it is?" Catherine asked. Brass ignored her and dialled another number on his phone. "Brass?"

"Vartann, put out an APB for Vincent Jones. I want to know where he is and who he's with."

* * *

"Cath, its Warrick. I found the person who delivered the bomb. John Smith, he's the mailman."

"John Smith? That's cute, what's your bet that's not his real name?"

"You know I don't bet any more, Cath," Warrick replied. "But, if I did, I would bet it wasn't. I've asked Archie to check him out."

"Great, thanks Warrick. Greg and Nick are on their way back to the lab, meet them there and go through the evidence. Let me know what you get."

"Sure thing. Hey, have you spoken to-"

"No. He needs time." Catharine interrupted. "When Archie gets a last known, get him to send it to me. I want to speak with Mr Smith as soon as."

"Yes, Boss." He replied and Catherine hung up, she looked round to see Brass walking down the street, envelope in hand.

"That the warrant?" She asked.

"Yep, let's go get the guy." Brass and Catherine walked up to the front door, Mitch following them with his hand to his gun. "Mr Jones, LVPD open up," Brass called, pounding the door with his fist. A car screeched to a halt, Catharine, Brass and Mitch all turned quickly. Their hands going to their respective guns. Catharine and Brass exchanged exasperated glances when they saw Greg in the driver's seat.

"Sorry," he called as he opened his door. He ran up to the door, kit in hand, as the front door was opened.

"Captain Brass. Ms Willows," Jones exclaimed, surprised. "What do I owe the pleasure?"

"Mr Jones, we have a warrant to search your residence. Why don't you step out of the house?" Brass said, motioning him out with his hand. Jones nodded, opening the door wider and walking out with his hands raised.

"What's this about, Captain?" Jones asked, with all the air of an innocent man.

"Like you don't know." Catherine said.

"Wow, Ms Willows, what's with all the aggression?"

"Oh, I don't know. How about the fact that you're supposed to be in jail." Catherine retorted. "Greg, have a look around and see what you can find. Look for anything that could tie him to explosives." Greg nodded, taking a look at Jones before moving in the house with Mitch.

"Ah, the explosion. I heard about that on the news. It happened at the hospital Ms Sidle was admitted to, right? Tell me, how is she?" Jones asked, smirking a little. Catherine didn't answer. "I heard that there were two casualties, I do hope that it wasn't-"

"Shut up," Catherine almost shouted him, her anger getting the better of her. Brass held her back as she made a move towards him. Jones smirked.

"Cath, this isn't helpful. Go help Greg." Brass pushed her to the door, Catherine shot Jones a filthy look before entering the house. The house wasn't very big, a staircase greeted her the moment she entered the house, along with a living room/kitchen. It was clean, not a lot of furniture. The room looked more like an office than someone's home. There was some paperwork on the table, Catherine picked through it. A credit card bill caught her eye. She opened the envelope, there wasn't much on there. A few supermarkets, restaurants and a DIY store.

Catherine's brows furrowed as she looked at that and cast her eyes around the room. Her head turned as she heard the floor creak behind her, Greg was coming down the stairs.

"Greg, is Jones doing any work upstairs?"

"Work?" The younger CSI asked.

"Any DIY stuff going on up there?" Catherine asked, rolling her eyes at him.

"No, why?"

"He went to a DIY store," Catherine said, waving the statement. "I want to know what he's doing, nothing down here."

"Basement?" Greg suggested. Catherine nodded, it was a good suggestion and Catherine couldn't help being a little proud at how much he's come along in the short time he's been out in the field. They looked round the room, Greg nodded at a door underneath the stairs. The pair walked over, Catherine took out her gun and motioned for Greg to stand behind her. She turned her torch on and opened the door, they walked down the stairs, Greg turned his torch on when they couldn't find a light switch.

Their lights shone over a supposedly empty room, Catherine's eyes squinting as they adjusted to the dark. "Doesn't look like there's anything here. " She said.

Lights flashed on, blinding her for a second.

"Geeze Greg. Could have given me some warning."

"Sorry." He said, coming from behind the staircase. The room was practically empty save a bookshelf with a few bits and bobs on, a table and chair. "Could be his workstation." Greg suggested again.

"Grab your kit, process every inch of this place."

"No problem."

Catherine left Greg in the basement, looked through the rest of the house before making her way back outside to Brass. They weren't going to find anything in this place, she knew it. The only way they were going to get answers was from Jones himself, she was going to do everything within her power to get them.

"Mr Jones, you're not much of a home maker," she stated.

"I move around a lot. Not any more, thanks to your Ms Sidle."

"What was in your basement?" Catherine asked, doing her best to ignore the way he said Sara's name.

"Nothing much, I don't really use it." He replied, flippantly. "Will you tell me? Captain Brass refuses to answer."

"Tell you what, Mr Jones."

"What happened to Sara?"

Catherine and Brass shared a look, she knew the pain in the older detectives' eyes was mirrored in her own.

"Catherine!" Greg called, walking out of the house holding up an evidence bag. "I found this in the basement."

"That looks like the end of a pipe bomb, Captain?" Catherine turned to Brass, her eyebrows raised.

"I think we should talk down at the station." Brass took Jones by the arm, leading him to his car.

* * *

"Talk to me Hodges." Nick said as he walked into the trace lab.

"Do you know, it doesn't matter how hard the bad guys try, I'll always find what I'm looking for." Hodges said in his usual, slightly arrogant, manner.

"Just tell me what you got." Hodges handed him a sheet of paper. "Bleach. So nothing?" Nick handed him back the piece of paper, crossing him arms.

"Oh contraire." Hodges took another piece of paper from the printer. "Here are the results from the cap Greg found in our suspects basement."

"Nitro-glycerine, acetone peroxide, methyl ethyl ketone-"

"Your basic homemade bomb supplies." Hodges interrupted with a smug look. "No need to thank me."

"I wasn't going to," Nick said, turning away to exit.

"Hey, Nick. Have you spoken to Grissom?" Hodges asked. "I tried speaking with him earlier but he-"

"Hey, Hodges, let me give you some advice."

"Sure."

"Keep your nose out of other people's business. Don't use Sara to try and get close to Grissom."

"That's not what I was-"

"Yes you were, he won't like it. Neither do we," Nick interrupted. To his credit, Hodges looked abashed and nodded his head, hanging it a little. Nick saw that. "We're all feeling what happened to Sara, none more so than Griss. Try a little sensitivity, ok?" Hodges nodded.

"How is he?"

"How do you think?" The pair shared a look, Nick could see that Hodges was genuinely concern this time. "I need to get this to Catherine. Thanks, Hodges." Nick left the lab and saw Catherine leave Archie's lab. "Hey Cath!"

"What you got, Nick?" Catherine asked as Nick caught up with her.

"Results from trace. Looks like Jones' was making a bomb in the basement."

"Great job Nicky. Archie found Mr Smith, Brass sent a couple of officers to pick him up. Greg and Warrick went with them. He should be at the station any minute now." Catherine said, they were finally getting some good news. "He also found that Smith had $10,000 added to his account."

"10,000? How did Jones' get that much money?"

"I don't know, it'll be the first thing I ask him." Catherine replied.

"You speaking to Jones now?"

"Yep, you wanna come with?" She asked.

"Definitely."

* * *

Catherine and Nick met Brass at the station, he was standing outside one of the interrogation room's.

"Jones' in there?" Catherine asked as they drew line with him.

"Yep, along with his lawyer," Brass replied.

"We gonna go in?" Nick asked.

"No. Mitch just brought Mr Smith in, I was going to speak with him first, make Jones sweat a little."

"Good idea. Where is he?" Catherine asked.

"Over here." The three of them made their way to another interrogation room where Mr John Smith sat, alone.

"No lawyer?" Nick asked.

"He refused one," Brass said. "Shall we?" The three of them entered the room, Brass and Catherine sat at the table, Nick leant against the wall by the glass. Brass threw a file on the table and took out some photographs, photographs of Smith entering and exiting Sara's hospital room. "Mr Smith, John Smith. Is that your real name?"

Smith didn't answer.

"I get it. You're a tough guy. You're not going to answer questions." Brass turned the photos to face Smith. "Here is a picture of you entering CSI Sidle's room, a picture of you taking in a parcel and another of you leaving. A few seconds after you left the room, it exploded. Now that's some convenience."

Smith didn't speak, he just shifted his focus and looked away.

"What was in the box?"

"How am I supposed to know? I didn't open it." It was the first thing he said since getting picked up.

"Our IT guy blew up a picture of the box," Catherine said, taking out another photo from the file. "There was no address on it, no return address. Nothing." She paused. "How did you know who to deliver the box to?"

"I just guessed, I suppose."

"Listen to me." Brass said, threateningly, leaning forward. "Two friends of mine, good friends of mine were in that room. Unless you talk to me, I'm going to book you and you'll be going away for a very long time."

"You haven't got anything on me." Smith said, not sounding do sure of himself anymore. Sweat broke out on his forehead and Catherine leant forward.

"You so sure about that?" She said. "My guys are there best there is, we've already got plenty on you. Enough to put you away for a long time, and you don't strike me as the sort of guy who'll do well in prison."

"Look, I didn't know what was in the box. Honestly, if I did there was no way I would have delivered it. I liked Sara, she was nice."

"You knew her?"

"Yeah, I'd seen her about at the hospital. She was nice, friendly. I swear I wouldn't have delivered that box if I knew what it was." Smith said, pointing at the table to prove his point. Catherine looked to Brass, she believed him and so did Brass, it seemed.

"Who gave you the box?" Brass asked.

"I don't know his name. A guy came up to me, gave me the box and said that is was a special gift for Ms Sidle. He offered me 10 grand. I'm having some money troubles. Gambling debts, I was desperate."

"You didn't ask any questions?" Nick said, pushing away from the wall.

"No, look the dude was…" He searched for the right word. "Scary. Not a big dude, but there was something about him."

"Can you give us a description?" Brass asked.

Smith looked between the three of them before saying: "Yeah, yeah I can."

*AN: So, very case heavy. We'll be getting some more answers in the next chapter. Not sure when the next update will be due to another fic update I've got to do, uni work and such.  
PS: I don't know much about making bombs and chemicals and such, what I write is what I find out from internet research so if anything wrong I apologise.  
PPS: Don't hate me for what I've done to Sara and Grissom, all will be revealed I promise.*


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Grissom was looking out the window, his eyes were heavy from lack of sleep. The bags underneath were big and tinged with black. Even with his eyes opened, looking at the solid form of the big oak tree outside the safe house, he could see the flash. The burning fire, the spark, the heat that waved over his body, blasting him back towards and over Sara's bed.

A shiver ran over him, the open window let a soft breeze in, cooling his burnt skin. The hospital grown was scratching against his already sensitive skin. The doctors said he was lucky, mostly first degree burns over his face, arms, chest and legs.

His back wasn't so lucky.

A noise from the other side of the room drew his attention. He turned, painfully, to the noise, Sara was stirring in her bed. She was yet to wake up and Grissom hadn't left her side. He shuffled over to her, doing his best not to jar his back. He just prayed that the nurse wouldn't walk in, he had already had a tongue lashing from her for being out of bed, he wasn't in a hurry to get another.

His eyes travelled over Sara's pale face. When he pulled her off her bed he popped her stiches, she almost bled out while they waited for the firemen to get to them. Grissom did everything he could to stop it, but there was so much. Even now he could feel how warm it was on his hands.

He picked up her slim hand, it was so cold in his, he rubbed it to bring some warmth. Her eyes were moving franticly under her lids, and Grissom wondered what she was dreaming of. A nurse walked in, Grissom looked up and gave her a guilty grin.

"Dr Grissom, you should be in bed." Sally said, with a motherly shake of her head.

"So should you." Grissom replied, eyeing the injuries to her face.

"This is nothing." She said, shrugging it off. "Please get back into bed."

"Do I have to?"

"You need to rest, Dr Grissom."

"I can't lie down. I can't lie on my back because of the burns, I can't lie on my front because of the burns and I can't lie on my side because of the burns. Standing is the only thing that doesn't hurt."

"Really?" She asked, disbelievingly.

"Ok, no it still hurts." Grissom said, his shoulder slumping a little.

"Ok, how's this: sit down, that way you won't be leaning on your back or front but you won't be at risk of falling." She said, diplomatically.

"Ok." Grissom sat on the chair, taking a sharp intake of breath as pain shot through him.

"More pain killers, I think." Sally said, hearing the breath. Grissom didn't disagree, he needed the meds. Sally pumped some morphine into the drip attached to his arm and he could feel the relief flood through him. He sat still as Sally checked his wounds and changed his dressing, when she was done, she moved to Sara, checking over her wounds also.

Someone knocked on the door, and Greg walked in.

"Hey, Boss."

"Hi Greg. What's going on?" Grissom asked, trying to get out of his seat.

"Don't move." Sally commanded.

"What's going on?" Grissom asked again. The team wasn't supposed to visit them.

"We found the bomber." Grissom sat up a little straighter and did another sharp intake as pain shot through him again.

"Dr Grissom, please," Sally said, as she re-wrapped Sara's burns. "You need to take it easy." He ignored her.

"Who?"

"John Smith."

"The mailman?" Grissom said, surprised. "That can't be right."

"He told Catherine that he didn't know what was in the box."

"Do you believe him?" Grissom asked.

"Yes. He was able to give us a description."

"And?"

"It was Jones. We got him Griss."

"We already had him, Greg," Grissom said, frustrated. "We need to know who's behind this, and it's not Jones." Greg hung his head a little and Grissom felt bed for the kid, he was just trying to help. "I'm sorry Greg."

"It's alright, Grissom. I get it."

The two men shared a glance, Grissom knew he was forgiven.

"Do you think he'll tell?" Grissom asked, his eyes now on Sara. He just wanted this to be over, for her to be safe and that won't happen until they catch the guy behind this.

"I don't know."

* * *

"Mrs Turner," Brass called as the DA walked past him.

"Captain," she said, turning. "I heard about the explosion and Sara, she didn't make it, did she?" Brass didn't answer. "I'm sorry captain, I know you guys were close. It's just terrible what happened to her."

"Dr Grissom was in that explosion too," Brass said, coldly.

"Yes, yes, I heard. I'm sorry," Turner said. "Well, I'll let you get on. I'm sure you've got a lot to do."

"Actually, counsellor, I wanted to speak with you."

"Ok?"

"Do you want to come to my office?" Brass held out his hand, gesturing her to his office. Turner preceded him through the door. "Do you want a drink? Tea? Coffee?"

"Tea, thank you," She sat and Brass got her a cup of tea.

"Mrs Turner, I have a few questions about Charlotte Smith."

"The dead girl from a couple of weeks ago?" She asked, supposedly surprised.

"Yes, we found that she had a brother. Darrel Watkins."

"My assistant?"

"Did you know he had a sister?" Brass asked.

"No, he didn't say anything. Oh my, I need to tell him," Turner leant forward, her elbows on her knees and hands on her face. "He's just got back from a business trip. If you don't mind, Captain, I need to speak with my assistant."

"Actually, Mrs Turner. I've called him already, he's on his way here now," Brass said, his eyes narrowed slightly at the look that crossed the DA's face. The woman was hiding something, he just wasn't sure what it was.

"Oh, ok. I'll, I'll meet him then. I don't want him to be alone, not at a moment like this," she said, recovering slightly.

"I don't think that'll be a good idea, counsellor. This is going to be rough, it's best if you give him some time," he didn't know why he wanted to keep this woman away from her assistant, but it was a feeling he couldn't shake. Someone knocked at the door.

"Brass, sorry to interrupt. Darrel Watkins is here." Nick said from the doorway.

"Thanks Nick," Nick nodded and closed the door. "If you'll excuse me, Mrs Turner. I must go." Turner was staring out at the door, her face contorted in concentration. "Mrs Turner?" Brass said again, breaking her out of her retrieve.

"Yes, sorry. Of course. If there's anything else I can do, please let me know," the DA held out her hand and the shook, just before she left the office. Brass followed after her, watching her walk down the hall. Nick was standing by the water fountain by, who he assumed was Darrel Watkins. Something strange happened at Turner drew level with them.

Watkins straightened and shifted his eyes away from her, as if he was afraid. Brass pushed away from him door and made his way to the two men by the water fountain.

"Mr Watkins? Captain Jim Brass, I 'm sorry for your loss."

* * *

"Mr Jones, you're a really sloppy hit man," Catherine said as she entered the interview room, Jones' only response was to raise his eyebrows. "The man you paid to plant that bomb ID'd you, and you weren't particularly stealthy in your payments. I hope whoever paid you, didn't spend much."

Jones didn't respond.

"I've been going over your sheet, that last drug charge was lucky," Catherine opened a file, taking out a piece of paper. "There was evidence, witnesses, it was a slam dunk case. Yet you managed to slip away. How did you manage that?"

Jones sat back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head. "Guess I'm, just lucky."

"Yes, or you made a deal. Murder for hire? You kill Charlotte Smith and get a get out of jail free card."

"Why would I do that?"

"With the drug charge, you would have been going for a long time. Life," Catherine said, closing the file. She smirked at him, he wasn't getting away this time. "Who paid you?"

"And why would I tell you?" Jones said, leaning forward. The two stared at each other, both convinced they were going to have on over on the other.

"Oh, I don't need you to tell me. I already know who it is," she felt a little triumph, when shock filtered across his features.

"Really?" Jones said, trying to regain some of his earlier confidence.

"Really." Jones studied her face, she knew he was trying to catch her lying but Sam had taught her well. She had a good poker face.

"Ok," he said slowly. "What do you need me for?"

"Nothing," Catherine said, gathering the file and standing. "You're going to jail for a very long time. Murder and attempted murder of a criminalist, two counts of that, carries a long sentence." She turned away.

"And what about her?" her? Catherine smirked, she turned back.

"She's going down with you," was her simple reply. For added effect, she threw in a non-committal shrug.

"Ok."

"Ok?"

"I want a deal," he said, an edge appeared in his voice.

"I'm sure that can be arranged," Catherine said, walking back to her chair.

"Ok, she came up to me before my trial," he started.

"I need a name," Catherine interrupted.

"I thought you knew her name," he eyed her suspiciously.

"I do, but for the record we need you to say it."

"Fine."

* * *

"Mr Watkins, please have a seat," Brass said as he, Watkins and Nick entered his office. "Can I get you anything?"

"No, thank you," Watkins said, his voice thick. "I knew this was going to happen."

"You did?" Nick asked, surprised.

"I warned her, told her to stay out of it."

"Out of what?" Brass asked, but Watkins didn't respond. "Mr Watkins, if you know something about your sisters murder-"

"I don't know anything," he said, much too quickly.

"I think you do," Brass could see panic replacing the grief on his face. "If someone is threatening you, we can protect you."

"I don't have anything to say. Can I see my sister now?"

"In a minute," Brass said.

"I want to see my sister," Watkins stood, sweat forming on his brow. Nick and Brass exchanged looks, Nick moved away from the door but Brass waved him down. They didn't need to let their emotions cloud the situation. Nick was on edge, the second attack on Sara had made them all on edge.

Brass wanted answers, his conversation with Turner confused him. He wanted to know what she was hiding and the man standing in front of him had the answers, he just needed him to talk.

"Mr Watkins, whoever killed your sister targeted one of my people. She is currently fighting for her life in hospital, another one of my people is badly injured." Watkins shifted, uncomfortably.

"Please, I can't help you," Watkins said, his eyes pleading with Brass to let him go.

"Ok," Brass said. Nick shot him a look. "Mr Stokes will escort you to the morgue. You'll be able to see your sister and make arrangements."

"Thank you."

"Brass," Warrick said, barging into the office. "Oh, sorry. I didn't realise you were-"

"It's alright, Rick. What's up?"

"Catherine's just got a confession. We have a name."

"Who?" Nick said.

"Chloe Turner."

"The DA?" Brass said, surprised. The three co-workers looked at Watkins, his face had paled on Warrick's announcement. "Mr Watkins?"

"I'd like to see my sister now," he said, stuttering slightly under their stares.

"Mr Watkins, why would your boss want your sister dead?" Nick asked.

"How should I know?"

"Oh, you know," Warrick said, everyone in the room looked at him. "When Jones spoke with Catherine, he said that Turner said, and I quote: 'the stupid kid had to blab to his sister.'" Warrick pinned Watkins down with his stare. "What did you blab, Mr Watkins?"

Watkins sat, heavily, on the chair behind him. "Mrs Turner and I were having an affair."

"How long?" Brass asked, sitting back at his desk. He took out his note pad and pen.

"3 months, I had been working for her pretty much as soon as I got to Vegas. Lottie helped me get the job," Watkins took a shudder breath. "At first it was fun, she was nice and I was falling in love with her."

"What changed?" Nick asked.

"She did. She, uh, at first it was just," he stopped, whatever it was he was going to say, he couldn't quite get out.

"Tell us, Mr Watkins, what happened?" Warrick's calm voice seemed to sooth the man.

"I didn't know it, when we started seeing each other, but Chloe has a drinking problem. When she drinks she gets," he searched for the right word, "mean."

"Mean?" Brass probed, gently. Watkins didn't answer, Brass and Warrick exchanged a look. "Was she abusive?" The man looked away, he put his head in his hands. Rubbing his face with his fingertips.

"Mr Watkins, did she hit you? It's not uncommon," Nick said when he didn't answer. "There's nothing to be ashamed of."

"That's easy for you to say," Watkins said, aggressively. "What sort of man does this make me? I let my girlfriend beat me."

"You didn't 'let' her do anything, Mr Watkins." Warrick said, firmly. "This was not your fault, no more than it would be if you were a woman."

"But I'm not a woman, I should be able to stop it. I'm a man, I should be strong."

"And a woman isn't strong?" Nick asked, a little annoyed at the implication.

"That's not what I meant, I'm sorry."

"I know, but it doesn't matter if you are male or female, nobody let's themselves get beaten." Warrick said, moving towards the broken man. "You told your sister."

"She figured it out, she didn't know who it was," Watkins sat up, blinking back tears he was too proud to shed. "Our dad was a drunk, he used to beat my sister. She would take it to stop him from hitting me, she got out of there as soon as she could. Got me out not long after." He stood up and looked out of the window, his eyes moving over the comings and goings of the room before him.

"She got me the job at the DA's office and I met Chloe. She was kind, beautiful, smart," Watkins continued. "We started dating, it had to be kept quiet because of her husband. After a few weeks I started to notice her drinking, I knew the signs. I confronted her about it and she slapped me, she apologised straight after. Said that it wasn't who she was, that she loved me and didn't want to hurt me. It became more and more frequent, but she always said sorry. She loves me."

"Charlotte worked out who it was," Brass stated, Watkins nodded.

"I don't know how, she would always ask me who but I never said. We couldn't risk Chloe's husband finding out. But a week before I left for London Lottie came up to me, told me she knew who my girlfriend was and said she was going to stop her from hurting me. Even after all this time, she's still looking after me," he paused before saying. "Was still looking after me." He broke down then.

Warrick put his hand on Watkin's shoulder, the raking sobs shook his arm. The three men around him looked at each other, Brass picked up his phone.

"Hi, this is Brass. Can I have an arrest warrant put out for Chloe Turner."

*AN: So, the team now know who's behind it. Did any of you guess? We're coming to the end now, will they be able to put the DA away or will she slip through the cracks? Please review, I love reviews!*


	14. Chapter 14

*AN: Thanks for all the reviews. Onto the next chapter.*

Chapter 14

Warrick stood behind the one way glass, watching Brass interrogate Turner. She wasn't giving anything away, the lawyer in her saying all the right things. His fist clenched at his side, Sara was fighting for her life and this woman was sat, acting as if she had all the time in the world. He posture was relaxed, her hands neatly folded in her lap. At this moment Nick and Greg were combing through her house, trying to find anything that could forensically tie her to Charlotte's murder and Jones.

They had Jones' confession, Watkins testimony, but Turner was one of top prosecutors in Vegas. 99% success rate, defence attorneys hated her and law enforcement loved her – well, they used to – she wasn't someone people liked to go against. They needed evidence, conclusive evidence that she couldn't throw away. Someone entered the room, and Warrick turned to see Catherine shutting the door.

"Has he gotten anything yet?" She asked, joining him by the window.

"No, she's even hinting that she can get the confession thrown out," Warrick said, his jaw clenched.

"She can't," Catherine said, her voice rising slightly.

"Apparently she can. She's saying Jones is lying. I don't believe it though, Nick and Greg are at her house trying to find something to connect her."

"Mrs Turner," they heard Brass say. "We have CSI's at you house right now, looking for any evidence we can find."

"You won't find anything Captain, I've told you; I'm not involved in this," Turner leant forward on her chair, trying to look sincere. Warrick snorted. This woman was good, but not good enough.

"If you're not involved in this, then how come I have a witness telling me that you hired him to kill Charlotte Smith?"

"Is this witness Vincent Jones?" Turner asked, sitting back in her chair. A ghost of a smirk flittered across her face.

"You know I can't divulge that information," Brass said. His back was straight, his arms folded on the table before him. Warrick watched Turners face, searching for anything that would give her away. His phone buzzed then, he took it out.

"Yeah, Nick?"

"Rick, is Brass still talking to Turner?" Nick asked over the phone.

"Yeah, he's not getting anywhere though. She's denying everything," Warrick replied, glancing over at Catherine. "Have you found anything?"

"No, we've torn this place apart. If she has anything, it's not here," Nick said.

"Damn."

"What?" Catherine asked, watching Warrick pace the room.

"There's nothing there," he said.

"Ok, tell Nick to meet me at her office, we'll search there and see if we can find anything," Catherine rushed out of the room, leaving Warrick alone. He relayed the message and hung up, turning his attention back to the two people in the interrogation room.

"Mrs Tuner, were you having an affair with your assistant?" Brass asked.

"Darrell? Why would you think that?" She scoffed, but Warrick saw it, a flicker of worry.

"Well, Mr Watkins is under the impression that the two of you were involved. Romantically, if you know what I mean."

"That is ludicrous, I am a happily married woman."

"Well, it's not so farfetched. It happens, you spend a lot of time with someone, you develop feelings. I've been there," Brass said, standing and turning around, looking at her from the mirror. "He's a good looking guy, young."

"Captain Brass," she interrupted. "I find this accusation impertinent and distasteful."

"I don't really care, how you find the accusation," Brass said, raising his voice and turning back to his suspect.

"I don't like your tone."

"Warrick," Vartann said, from the door he'd just opened.

"What?"

"Mr Turner is here, wanna come with me to talk to him?"

"Yes, yes I do," Warrick followed Vartann out of the room and down the hall. Mr Turner was waiting for them in his office. Warrick watched the guy through the window, he was pacing up and down the room, talking to someone on his mobile. He didn't seem angry, or frustrated, just anxious. Warrick watched him speak into his phone, sweat was gathering on his brow. The two entered the room and Mr Turner hung up the phone.

"Mr Turner, I'm Detective Vartann. This is Warrick Brown from the Crime Lab." Mr Turner nodded to the pair of them. "Can we ask you some questions?"

"Sure," Mr Turner replied.

"Do you know a Darrell Watkins?"

"Yeah, he's my wife's assistant. What about him?"

"Do you know Charlotte Smith?" Vartann asked.

"No. Detective, what's this all about?"

"Do you know if your wife was having an affair?" Vartann asked, Warrick expected him to get defensive. He wasn't disappointed.

"How dare you!"

"Take it easy, Mr Turner." Vartann said, sitting down at his desk. "Have a seat." Mr Turner sat on the chair Vartann indicated to, Warrick leant against the window.

"My wife and I are very happy, how dare you suggest that she would be unfaithful."

"Mr Turner," Vartann said, cutting over his last sentence. "Mr Watkins has made some accusations against your wife."

"What kind of accusations?" Mr Turner interrupted.

"He states that the pair of them have been involved for the last couple of months," Vartann said, sitting back in his chair. "You know, romantically."

"That's ridiculous."

"Not really," Warrick said. "Our tech guy found several of phone calls and text messages, a lot of the text messages were very intimate."

"How did you get that information? Don't you need a warrant?" Mr Turner said, sounding slightly worried.

"We don't need a warrant if we have permission. Mr Watkins gave us permission to look into his phone records," Warrick said. "Take a look." He walked round to Mr Turner and handed him a file.

Mr Turner read through the file, his eyes darted across the page and his face got paler the further down he read. Warrick and Vartann exchanged glances, this guy didn't seem to know about his wife's affair.

"How long has this been going on for?" He asked, his eye's not leaving the page in front of him. Warrick felt bad for him.

"Three months," Warrick's phone buzzed again. "Excuse me. What is it Greg?"

"I found a connection," the younger CSI said.

"What connection?"

"Sara's number was written on a post-it note. It was hidden in a desk draw."

"Why would Turner have Sara's number?" Warrick asked, his voice low as to not interrupt the questioning going on behind him.

"She wouldn't," Greg said, Warrick could hear something in his voice.

"What are you getting at Greg?"

"Well, the number wasn't found in Mrs Turner's office. It was found in Mr Turners."

"Why would he want to contact Sara?" Warrick asked, eyeing up the man in the chair.

"I don't know. Nick said that Turner was abusing her boyfriend?"

"Yeah."

"What if she was abusing her husband, as well?" Greg asked, Warrick couldn't help but be a little proud of the kid's instincts.

"I don't know. I'll ask," Warrick said. "Thanks Greg." He put his phone away, walking back over to the desk. "Mr Turner," he said, interrupting Vartann's question. "One of my colleagues found a number in your desk."

"Why are you looking in my desk?"

"We have a warrant to search your house, your desk, and the office it is in, is a part of your house," Warrick said. "The number, my colleague found, was a number for another one of my colleagues. Sara Sidle?" Mr Turner looked away and shifted slightly in his chair. "Why do you have Sara's number?"

He didn't answer.

"Mr Turner, you do know that Sara Sidle was attacked a few weeks ago. Someone shot at her outside her apartment building," Vartann said, Mr Turner's eyes flicked over to him and back at the desk in front of him. "Someone then placed a bomb in her hospital room."

"Is she alright?"

"She's alive," Warrick said. "Just. Why do you have her number?"

"A friend gave it to me."

"Why?" Vartann asked.

"Mr Turner, it has come to our attention that your wife may have been abusive, towards her boyfriend," Warrick stopped then, watching for any movement he made. "Was she abusive, Mr Turner?"

"No," he said, a little too fast. He looked between the two law men before him, he took a breath. "My wife is a wonderful woman, she is kind and generous and-"

"Your wife hired a hit man to kill Charlotte Smith and attempted to kill Sara Sidle," Warrick said, losing his patience now. "Does that sound like a kind and generous person?"

Mr Turner shook his head, in denial. Warrick took his chair and turned him around, Mr Turner turned his head. Tears were standing in his eyes, tears Warrick knew he didn't want to fall. Warrick let go of the chair, calming himself down. This guy didn't need any more threats, if the flinch was anything to go by, he's had enough of those already.

"Mr Turner," Warrick said, his voice softening. Mr Turner looked up at the change. "Do you know how many domestic violence cases we get every year?" He shook his head. "Too many to count. You know the statistics on domestic violence?" He nodded his head. "Well, they're wrong. Especially the one's relating to men."

Mr Turner looked up surprised, he glanced at Vartann who nodded.

"You can't form statistics if you don't have all the facts. There are so many more cases of domestic violence that we don't know about, because people don't report them. Especially when that victim is a man," Warrick paused then. "Why do you have Sara's number?"

Mr Turner took a moment before he answered. "You have to understand, my wife, she really is a lovely person. She just gets a little- when she drinks, she, she's a different person. Not who she is at all."

"Why do you have Sara's number?" Vartann asked, softly.

"A friend of mine gave it to me. Just over a month ago, I told him I knew someone who may need some help. Said that I knew of someone whose partner was, not who they said they were. I didn't go into detail, but he said he knew a CSI I could talk to. Said that she could help me and he gave me her number."

Warrick and Vartann exchanged a look, but neither of them said anything. They didn't want to stop him, not now that he was talking to them.

"I was going to call her," Mr Turner continued. "I was just trying to work up the courage. Then Chloe found the number, she was mad. She wanted to know why I had her number, I didn't tell her. She's smart though, she worked it out, asked my friend if he knew anything about it. Obviously, he didn't know who I was talking about."

"He told her," Warrick stated. Mr Turner nodded.

"She was mad."

"Did she say anything else to you?" Vartann asked. He shook his head. "Ok, thank you, Mr Turner. I know that couldn't have been easy."

"She really is a great woman, she just has a problem," Mr Turner said as he stood. Warrick and Vartann look after him as he left, neither of them said anything until the door closed.

"What are you thinking?" Vartann asked, looking at Warrick.

"I want to talk to Mrs Turner."

"You think that's the reason she went for Sara?"

"Yes, it didn't make sense before. Yes, Sara doesn't give up, but it didn't make sense for her to try and kill her. If that was the reason, she would have tried to kill us all. She couldn't do that," Warrick said, working it all out.

"You think Turner believed Sara already knew what was going on?" Vartann asked.

"Mr Turner said he got Sara's number just over a month ago, that was before Charlotte Smith was murdered," Warrick said.

"She finds out he has the number, assumes he's spoken to Sara and decides the silence her."

"Then Smith comes into the picture, openly tells Turner what she's going to do. Turner decides to get her out of the way first," Warrick continued, still staring out of the door.

"Then Sara's put on the case, Turners already paranoid she knows so she orders the hit."

"This is all well and good, but we don't have any evidence to support this theory. All we have are the testimonies of three men, two of which probably won't get on the stand," Warrick shifted his line of sight then, landing it on Vartann. He knew they were right, he would bet everything he had on it. But, knowing and proving were two different things. They needed to find the evidence, Turner would never confess, they needed to prove it. There was no evidence at the house, probably nothing at her office. Where would she keep it all? There had to be something, there always was. What was he missing?

"Vartann," he said, a thought suddenly coming into his head. "How quickly could you get a warrant for Turners financial records?"

"A couple of hours. Why? What are you thinking?"

"Turner was having an affair right, if we can prove that then we could have some leverage."

"We already can, the phone records," Vartann motioned to the file sat on his desk.

"They only prove that they spoke to each other, it doesn't prove that they were sleeping together. It hint's at an affair, but you know what she'll argue; they were just talking, nothing else. We need to prove that they were sleeping together. If we can prove that then we can prove motive."

"Ok, so why the financial records?"

"I want to know where they were meeting, see if we can find any payments for hotels or restaurant's they went to. If we can find them, we can speak with the staff, see if they know anything," Warrick said, placing his hands on Mr Turner's vacant chair. Vartann grinned and picked up his phone.

*AN: Ok, so the team seem to be getting somewhere. Will they get their evidence? We'll just have to wait and see. Hope you enjoyed and, as always, please review!*


	15. Chapter 15

*AN: Thanks for all the reviews, they are much appreciated. Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy.*

Chapter 15

She could hear beeping, it was echoing in her head, loudly. There was a strange smell in the air, she couldn't figure out what it was. Her eye lids were heavy, they weighed down on her, not wanting to open. Voices floated around her, nothing that was said made sense but there was one voice that stood out. It was the voice she loved above all else, deep and rich, beautiful.

"How much longer do you think she'll be out?" She heard Grissom ask someone, probably her nurse or doctor. He sounded worried, she wondered why.

Her head hurt, not like a headache, like she hadn't had enough sleep. It felt heavy, the medication must be getting to her.

"Ok, thank you doctor," she head Grissom say and a door closed. A chair moved beside her, she wanted to turn her head, to look into his face, but she couldn't move. Her entire body was heavy, her arms felt like they were strapped down and her head felt like it was underwater. "Please, wake up honey."

Grissom's voice, it was the most beautiful voice she had ever heard. She focused on that voice, it kept her grounded as she felt like she was drowning. Wake up, she was awake. Why was he asking her to wake up?

She tried to move again, tried to open her mouth, tried to say something. Nothing happened. She didn't understand. Something touched her head, it was heavy. Whatever it was, ran down her hair. She wished it would stop, it added pressure on her already heavy head.

The pressure was lifted when another sound entered her head.

"How's she doing?" It was Catherine.

"She still hasn't woken up," she heard Grissom say.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm ok." There was silence then, she knew Catherine didn't believe him any more than she did. If anyone knew Grissom, it was Catherine Willows.

"Gil," Catherine said. "How are you, really?" She heard him sigh.

"I'm ok, still in a bit of pain. But it's nothing. Doctors said I'll be ok to leave in a couple of days, I was lucky." Why was he in pain? What happened?

She tried to move again, used every ounce of strength she had to do so. Nothing. Why couldn't she move? Why was Grissom in pain? What was going on? Sara was starting to panic now, she needed to get up, she needed to know what was going on.

Her heart rate started to go up, she could hear the beeping of the machine going haywire. Grissom's voice was distant, but still managed to make it through.

"Help, we need some help in here!" He shouted. "Catherine, get some help. Sara, Sara listen to me. Please honey, you've got to hold on."

His voice grew distant, as if someone was pulling him away. Something sharp was stuck in her arm, she could feel something warm go up her arm and spread through her body. Her heart rate started to slow back down and her body got even heavier.

No, she wanted to move, not get strapped back down.

"Sara? Sara can you hear me?" Grissom's voice flew into her ear.

"She's stable, call me if anything changes." A voice said, she couldn't place it.

"Thank you," she heard Catherine say. "Gil?"

"Sara? Please wake up," Grissom pleaded with her, she wanted nothing more than to respond. To tell him not to worry.

"Gil, she's going to be ok."

"How do you know?" Grissom asked, he sounded resigned. "Cath,"

"She'll be fine," Catherine said, confidently. I am, I'm fine, she thought with all her might. Hoping that she might be able to voice it. She wished she could just see him, if she could see him then she could know if he was alright.

"Do we have any leads?" Grissom asked.

"Jones' confessed, Turner hired him to kill Charlotte. She's also the one who ordered the hit on Sara."

"Do we know why?"

"The theory is; Mr Turner was going to call Sara. He had her number written down in his home office. He said a friend gave it to him, he was going to call her to talk about a domestic violence situation."

"Whose?" Grissom asked.

"His. Apparently Turner didn't just abuse her boyfriend, she abused her husband as well. Charlotte found out about her brother, which is why Turner had her killed. Mr Turner was going to talk to Sara, which is why she was targeted," Catherine concluded.

"Do we have any evidence to support this?"

"Phone records, they hint at an affair between Turner and Watkins. Warrick got a warrant for her financial records and spoke with staff at the hotels and restaurant's she's been to over the last three months, they said she was there with her husband. When we showed a picture, they confirmed that it was Darrel Watkins and not Mr Turner who was with her."

"That doesn't prove that she ordered the hit," Grissom said, she could hear the frustration in his voice.

"No, but it proved motive. That alongside Jones' testimony, we're confident we'd get a conviction."

"But why Sara?" Grissom asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, why give Mr Turner Sara's number? Why not the number of a counsellor, or a detective? Why a criminalist?" Those were all good questions, she didn't even know Mr Turner. She had never spoke to him. "Who was the friend?" Grissom asked Catherine.

"Joseph Johnson," Catherine replied after a seconds thought.

"Joseph Johnson? Madeline Lewis' brother?"

"Who's Madeline Lewis?"

"Domestic violence case Sara worked last year. She was being beaten by her husband, ended up in hospital. Sara was called, managed to talk her into pressing charges. Sara helped Madeline through the trial, helped her through the divorce. The husband got jail time and Madeline now lives in New York, Sara helped get her started, got her in contact with a therapist. She's doing well."

"Sara was instrumental in getting her back on her feet," Catherine said, Sara could hear a smile in her voice. "So, Madeline's brother gives Mr Turner Sara's number. Knowing how much she helped his sister, it makes sense he would put Mr Turner in touch with her."

"You know what Sara's like when domestic violence is involved," Grissom said.

"We're trying to get Mr Turner and Mr Watkins to agree to testify, but I don't think they will. It's hard enough to get a woman to testify about domestic violence, it near enough impossible to get a man to do so."

Grissom and Catherine were silent for a long time, she wondered if they were still there. She really wanted to touch him, to reach out and feel his skin on hers. She needed the connection. She tried to move her hand again, focused all her energy on it when she felt it connect with something.

"Sara?" Grissom said and a hand picked up her. She tried to move it again, to squeeze her fingers. It worked. "Sara?" She moved her focus to her head, putting all her strength into opening her eyes. They fluttered open, everything was blurry at first. She blinked a couple of times, bringing the room into focus. She looked to her left and saw machines, wires were connecting her to them. She looked to the right and saw Grissom, most notably his eyes. She stared into the depth of blue before her, he put his hand on her head, stroking her hair. Her eyes slid over her face, a frown formed on her face at what she saw.

The right side of his face was burnt, the skin was cracked, peeling and red. The left was also burnt, just not as bad. It looked like it was already healing pretty well.

Sara tried to sit up, but Grissom held her down.

"Honey, you need to lie still," he said, gently.

"I'll go get the doctor," Catherine said, as she left the pair of them alone. Sara studied his face, he was in pain, she could see it.

"What happened to you?" She asked, her voice cracked slightly. Grissom got up, without answering, and returned a second later with a glass of water and a straw. He held the straw to her mouth, she took a sip. "Gil," she said softly, as he turned to put the glass back down. He looked back at her, she would never get tired of seeing his face. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" She shook her head, instantly regretting it as it started to spin. She closed her eyes to steady it. When she opened them again, she saw Grissom's worried face.

"I'm fine, just a little dizzy," she said. As she spoke the door to her room opened up and a doctor walked in, but it wasn't her doctor.

"Ms Sidle, I'm Dr Grant. I'm glad to see you're awake," the man at the foot of her bed said.

"Where's Dr Logan?" She asked. Dr Grant and Grissom exchanged a look, what was going on?

"She's not available at the moment. I'm just going to examine you and I'll leave you to it," Dr Grant said. "How is your pain?"

"It's ok."

"On a scale of one to ten?"

"Six, maybe a seven," Sara replied, her eye's hadn't left Grissom's face.

"Ok, I'll give you some more pain medication. That should make you feel a little more comfortable," the doctor said. "I'm just going to turn you on your side, I want to check your burns."

"Burns?" Sara asked, what was going on?

"Yes, now I'll be as gentle as I can," the doctor turned her, Sara gasped from the pain. He was quick, took of her dressing, checked the wound, applied the cream and dressed it again. When he lay Sara back again, her eyes were closed in pain, tears stinging her eyes. "I'm sorry, Ms Sidle. I know that was painful. On the plus side, the burns are looking good," the doctor took his gloves off and made a note in Sara's file. He then put some more pain meds in to the drip, Sara felt the relief almost instantly.

The doctor went on to check her bullet wounds and the rest of her vitals. Before he left, he gave them an encouraging report, she was healing well. She wouldn't be able to leave for another couple of weeks, but she was improving. He left the three of them alone, after telling Grissom he'd be back in an hour to check his dressings.

Grissom sat back down in the seat next to Sara's bed, picking up her hand in his damaged one. The red of his burnt skin was even more obvious against her pale hand. She opened her eyes and searched for his, when they met she saw that he was hiding something.

"Gil, what happened?" She asked his, softly.

"There was an explosion, someone put a bomb in your old hospital room. I managed to get it out the window, but we were injured."

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. This isn't anything serious, it'll be fine in a couple of weeks," he looked away from her. "You weren't so lucky. When I pulled you off the bed, I ripped open your stiches. You almost blead out, I thought, I thought I was going to lose you. You didn't wake."

She put her hand on his cheek, and he leaned into it.

"You saved my life, Gil," she said. He looked down at her and she smiled at him, tenderly. He covered her hand with his, holding it against his cheek. The sat like that for a while, she was just enjoying the fact that she could finally touch him.

"Well," Catherine said, interrupting the moment. She had been stood there since the doctor left. "This seems like a very touching moment, I'll just leave you guys to it." Sara dropped her hand, Grissom sat up straight, both a little embarrassed. They completely forgotten that she was there. Sara glanced up and smiled a little at her friends grin, a faint blush crept up her face. "I'm glad you ok," Catherine said, softly, before she left.

"Thanks, Cath," Sara watched her leave before looking back to Grissom, she chuckled a little. He looked over at her, frowning slightly. That just made her laugher even harder, she clutched her side as she did. It hurt a little.

"Sara, please. You're going to pop your stiches," Grissom said, his tone just made it even funnier.

"I'm sorry," she said, trying to hold back her laugh. "You've got to admit though, that was funny." Grissom didn't say anything, but he did grin at her.

"I love you," he said, just before leaning in to kiss her.

"Griss," Sara said as they pulled back. "How long have I been out?"

"A couple of days."

"Do they know who's behind it?"

"Chloe Turner."

"Turner? The DA?" Sara asked, shocked. "I don't even know her, not really. Why?" Grissom sighed, he took her hand. He told her everything he knew, when he was done she lay back on her bed. Exhausted, it was a lot of information to take in.

"Sleep, you're tired. You need to rest," Grissom said, softly. Sara nodded and he sat back in his chair, not letting go of her hand. He winced slightly, his back still very tender.

"Grissom?" Sara's voice was soft and quiet.

"Yeah?"

"Will she come after me again?" She hated how young and vulnerable she sounded, but she needed to ask.

"It's a possibility," Grissom said, slowly. She nodded her head, she couldn't stop the fear rising up within her. "I won't let anything happen to you," he said leaning forward, stroking her hair gently. "I promise."

*AN: Thanks for reading, please review, reviews are most welcome!*


	16. Chapter 16

*AN: Thanks for all the reviews, so I'm procrastinating right now, doing this rather than my uni work. Naughty, naughty! Anyways, onwards and upwards.*

Chapter 16

Catherine sat opposite Chloe Turner, eyeing her up. This woman was smart, she had covered her tracks. All their evidence was circumstantial, any good lawyer could throw their case out of court. Chloe Turner was a good lawyer, one of the best. They needed a confession if the case was going to stick, Mr Turner and Mr Watkins refuse to testify, and Jones' confession could be argued as an ex-con with a grudge.

Brass was sat beside her, all three people were silent. Turner was sat back in her chair, completely at ease. They needed to play this right.

"Mrs Turner," Brass started, opening the file before him. "I have a credit card statement here, it's yours. You've been to some nice restaurants, and hotels. Why are you staying at hotels when you live in the city?"

"I like to have time to myself, surly you can understand that, Captain?"

"But you weren't by yourself, were you?" Brass said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we spoke with the staff at those restaurants, and the hotels. They said you were with your husband, but when we showed them a picture of him, they had no idea who he was. Do you know who they said you were with?"

"Who?"

"Him," Brass said, sliding a picture across the table. "Now, why would they think your assistant was your husband?"

"You already know the answer to that," she said, pushing the picture away from her.

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong," Catherine put in. "You told us that you were not in a relationship with Darrell Watkins." Turner didn't answer.

"We have proof that you were having an affair with Darrell Watkins, phone records, witness statements," Brass said.

"Ok. Yes, I was having an affair with Darrell," she admitted. "But that doesn't mean I killed his sister."

"We found some substantial withdrawals to your bank account, thousands of dollars were taken out of your account," Brass said, taking out a sheet of paper. "These withdrawals corresponded with money going into the account of Vincent Jones and Marcus and Kenny Shaw." Turner looked up in surprise at those names. "You didn't think we knew about them?"

"Our CSI's tracked them down using your phone records," Catherine said, with a smirk. "That's a little carless of you, Chloe."

"What has my conversations with them got to do with this?" Turner said, a little defensively.

"We were curious, so we tracked them down. They were found with a bunch of guns that were supposed to have been destroyed, those guns were also used in the attempted murder of CSI Sara Sidle," Brass interjected.

"Coincidence," Turner shifted in her chair.

"It links you with the people who had committed and attempted to commit murder," he almost shouted. "This is more than a coincidence. Three men, all connected to you, killed or tried to kill someone you knew. One of them; the sister of your assistant."

"It's all circumstantial."

"We have a statement from Vincent Jones, saying that you paid him to kill Charlotte Smith and Sara Sidle."

"You know I prosecuted Vincent Jones and sent him to jail, did you ever think that might just be another ex-con with a grudge?" Catherine rolled her eyes, she knew she'd play that card. "Look, I understand that you're frustrated. A colleague, a friend was hunted and almost murdered," she said, with fake concern. "I understand that you want answers, I do too."

"Then give them to us," Catherine said.

"I can't, Catherine, I don't know anything."

"You know what I think happened?" Brass said to Catherine. "I think Darrell had enough, he went to his sister and she confronted her."

"She wasn't as easy to bully. Charlotte was strong, she had spent most of her life protecting her brother from an abusive, alcoholic father. A woman would have been no match for her," Catherine continued the story. Turner exhaled sharply through her nose, drawing the attention of the two opposite her.

"No?" Brass asked, sitting down.

"Of course she was, that's why you got Jones to kill her. You couldn't handle someone who would actually stand up to you," Catherine said.

"Oh please," Turner said, scoffing.

"No, I see it. You pick the weak ones, Charlotte wasn't weak. You couldn't do it yourself," Brass added.

"I could have kill the bitch myself, but I chose not to," Turner snapped.

"No, you couldn't do it. You needed the help of a man, a stronger man,"

"No man is stronger than me."

"Jones it, why else would you ask for his help? Were you sleeping with him too?"

"I wouldn't sleep with that creep," she shouted. "He's weak, they're all weak."

"You're husbands not weak," Catherine said, softly.

"That guy? Seriously?"

"I don't think the men around are weak, I think they're pretty strong to put up with you."

"Put up with me? They worship me," she cried. "They always come back."

"Even after you hit them?" Brass asked.

"Yes, they have to."

"It must had really pissed you off when your husband went running to another woman," Catherine said.

"Damn right it did. I gave my life to that man and he goes running off, to some CSI bitch? I don't think so," Turner spat.

"You'd want to kill him, but that would be too obvious."

"It's always the spouse."

"It's better to kill the woman he's turning to, keeps your secret safe and your husband in line," Brass said, Turner only nodded. "But then Charlotte came along, she figured out what you were doing to her brother, she confronted you. Told you that you to, what? Leave her brother alone?"

"But a woman like you can't have that. No one tells you what to do. Who was she? No one, and yet she has the audacity to tell you to stay away from Darrell, from the guy you love," Catherine said, her voice trying to convey empathy for her.

"She comes up to me, tells me I have to stop seeing her brother, and that she's going to report me. It wouldn't have stood, Darrell would never have told. The male ego," she said on a laugh.

"So why did you have her killed?" Catherine asked, softly.

"She threatened me," she replied as if that explained it all.

"Bruised your ego," Turner nodded.

"It's funny," Brass said, drawing her attention from the table. "His ego was keeping you safe, your ego's landing you in jail."

* * *

Sara woke to the now familiar sound of beeping, she looked around the room and was disappointed to find herself alone. Ever since the shooting, Grissom had always been by her side when she woke, she was used to seeing his face. She strained her ears, trying to pick up the sound of his voice. All she heard was the murmur of doctors outside her door, and the beeping from the machine next to her.

She tried to sit herself up, wincing as pain shot through her body. She lay back down, panting and frustrated, she wasn't even strong enough to sit herself up. The call button was on her side, she could easily press it and one of the nurses would come and help her, but Sara Sidle was stubborn. She wanted to do it herself, even knowing it probably wasn't the best idea. She shifted again, her palms flat on the bed, letting out a small gasp of victory as she pushed herself up a little.

This was the scene Grissom walked in on.

"What are you doing?" He scolded, putting his phone on the tray by her bed.

"Moving," Sara said, panting a little as she tried to sit herself up a little more.

"You know," Grissom said, as he picked up the controls to the bed. "If you wanted to sit up, you could have just used these. That's what they're here for." He pressed the button and Sara relaxed as the bed did the job for her.

"I know," she said.

"Then why didn't you use it?"

"I wanted to do it myself," she said, grinning shyly. Grissom rolled his eyes.

"You're so stubborn, you're lucky you didn't pop a stich. You didn't, did you?" He added, concerned. She shook her head, giving him half a smile. Grissom took a seat next to her, lifting her pillow behind her head. Sara settled back, closing her eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, a little sore," they looked at each other, she could see something in his face. "What's up?"

"I was just talking to Catherine, she and brass had just spoken to Chloe Turner."

"And?" She lifted her head up, completely alert now.

"We got a confession, Brass is charging her for murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit."

"It's over?"

"It's over, now all you have to concentrate on is getting better," Grissom smiled at her, she felt as if there was a massive weight lifted off her chest. Pressure that she hadn't even realised she had, had been lifted. It was finally over, this last few months had intense. So much had happened and she hadn't had much of a chance to process it all yet.

Grissom reached over and took her hand, the action warmed her heart.

Out of everything that had happened, this was the thing that surprised her the most. Gilbert Grissom sitting next to her, holding her hand, kissing her. It was something she had only thought about, dreamt about. She had been in love with the guy for so long, almost from the moment they met. She thought, when he asked her to come to Vegas, something might happen. When it didn't she started to believe that it never would. It goes to show, things happen when you least expect it.

"What are you thinking?" He asked her, softly.

"Just stuff, it's really over?" She asked, almost scared to hear the answer.

"Yes, the Deputy DA is filing now. Turner will be arraigned and a trial date will set, if she pleads 'not guilty'." Sara nodded. "Are you ok?" He asked.

"Yeah, I just, I just can't believe it's really over."

"It is." The pair sat in silence, just enjoying each other's company until. They had always been able to sit in a companionable silence, although before it was filled in an unspoken tension. They never acknowledged it, never spoke about it, it was just there.

Now there was nothing, it was just nice, there was nothing unspoken between them anymore. Well almost nothing. Sara watched Grissom, who was watching the baseball game he had just turned on the TV. Never one for baseball, she didn't attempt to understand what was going on, she just let herself watch the man beside her. She never knew this could happen, the pair of the sitting together, holding hands, watching the game.

It was very domestic, not something she ever thought would happen to her.

Sara opened her mouth, just as the doctor walked in.

"Doctor Logan?" Sara said in surprise, as her doctor walked in. She was limping a little, her hand was in a splint and she had a bandage on her forehead. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you Sara." The doctor replied, warmly.

"Shouldn't be home?" She asked, concerned.

"I had a couple of days off, but I couldn't sit around at home. How are you feeling?" Dr Logan replied, moving over to the bed and picking up Sara's file.

"Good, better," Sara said, she caught Grissom's eye and grinned.

"I'm glad, I just want to check your wounds." Sara nodded and the doctor moved to do the exam. After a few painful moments, Sara settled back down. "Ok, you're looking good. I'd say we can get you up and walking tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Grissom said, surprised. "Dr Grant said she shouldn't get up for at least another week of so." The couple exchanged looks again.

"He was right, at the time. However, I'm happy with Sara's healing. I'll get a second opinions with Dr Grant, but I'm confident she can handle it," The doctor smiled as she looked up from her notes, the couple in front of her couldn't quiet contain their surprise.

"I can get up?" Sara asked, she could go home. She had been waiting for this moment for a month, lying in a bed had gotten old real fast.

"Yes," the doctor said.

"Hang on," Grissom interjected, he sounded a little worried. "Should we be rushing this? We don't want her to put any unnecessary strain-"

"Grissom," Sara interrupted him. "I know you're worried, but I'm not going to get any better by lying here."

"I know, I just don't want you to overdo it," Grissom said.

"If it would be overdoing it, Dr Logan wouldn't be saying I could."

"She's right, Dr Grissom," Dr Logan interrupted. "I believe Sara is strong enough to get up, or to at least try." Grissom didn't look at her, he was too busy staring into the beautiful eyes of the woman before him. Sara stared right back, she knew he was worried but this wasn't his decision. This was hers, and she wanted to do it.

"Grissom, I know you're worried, but I need to do this," she said, softly. Her thumb brushing over the back of his hand. When he didn't reply, she spoke again. "I'll be fine, I promise." He didn't say anything, just nodded. Sara looked back to her doctor. The woman nodded.

"Ok, we'll have a couple of rules. You are only allowed to get up with myself or another member of staff present, when we're happy, Dr Grissom will be able to assist you." The doctor looked between the two before exiting. "I'm glad you're doing ok, Sara," she said, as she opened the door.

"You too," Sara replied. The two women shared a smile before the doctor left the room. Sara looked back to Grissom, he was watching her. "I thought you'd be happier about this," she said softly, after a moment's silence.

"I am happy," Grissom said, but Sara could sense something more in his voice.

"What is it?" She asked.

"I'm just scared. Every time we take a step forward, something comes along and pushes us back"

"I know," she said softly. "I'm scared too, but I can't let that stop me." The couple looked at each other, Grissom leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. Sara reached up her hand to grasp the front of his shirt, keeping his close to her. They kissed again, as the door opened.

"Hey man, we don't need to see that." Grissom and Sara broke apart, they both looked round and Sara laughed a little at the look on the guys faces. Nick, Warrick and Greg were all stood at her door, trying and failing to look sickened. Nick gave her a cheeky wink before shutting the door. "Is if safe for us to come in?" He joked.

"Well, I can't promise that," Sara replied, with a smirk. Which only broadened when she saw the surprise on Grissom's face and the faint blush creeping up his cheek.

"I guess we can cope with that," Nick said.

"Speak for yourself," Greg said, with a theatrical shudder.

"How are you guys?" Warrick asked, bending to kiss Sara on the cheek.

"Good," Grissom replied, shifting his chair round so the guys can form a circle.

"Doctor says I can get out of bed tomorrow," Sara said, as Nick kissed her and Greg leant over to give her a one armed hug.

"No kidding," Greg said, Sara nodded. "That's great."

"You sure you up for it?" Warrick asked, Sara and Grissom shared a look and she laughed a little.

"You sound like Grissom," Grissom pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows, trying not to smile. Sara gave him a ghost of a wink.

"Just don't want you to overdo it, girl."

"I'll be fine, Rick."

"Anyway, we came to celebrate," Greg said, pulling out a bottle of champagne.

"Sara can't drink, Greg," Grissom said, in his usual boss tone.

"It's alright, Griss. It's non-alcoholic." Greg pulled out some glasses, filled them and started to hand them out.

"Be that as it may, maybe we should check with the doctor. I don't know if she can drink anything other than water right now."

"Lighten up, Gil. I've had nothing but water for the past month," Sara said as she accepted the glass from Greg. "I promise I'll just have to one, and if I start to feel funny I'll let you know." She looked at him, his face was set. "Please, Gil, don't make a fuss of this." The three men around the room held their breath as they watch the couple, never had they seen the two of them like this before. Grissom was looking at Sara in a way they had never seen, it was so open and honest. They didn't quite know what to do with themselves.

Grissom nodded, giving in and accepted the glass from Greg.

"Excellent," Nick said.

"Shouldn't we wait for Catherine?" Sara asked, noticing the other woman wasn't here.

"She said she was coming over once they processed Turner," Warrick said. "She shouldn't be long now." As Warrick finished the sentence, Catherine walked in, followed by Brass.

"Speak of the devil," Greg said, pouring out two more glasses.

"What's going on?" Catherine asked, accepting the drink.

"We're celebrating," Nick said, giving Catherine his chair. She waved him back down.

"Should you be drinking?" Brass asked of the young woman sat in bed.

"It's non-alcoholic, Jim," Sara replied, rolling her eyes a little. She wasn't really annoyed, it was nice, it made a change to have people who truly care about her.

"Ok, so," Nick said, raising his glass. "Here's to the end of a very long case, and the fact that Ms Sidle is finally getting off her ass." Sara shot him a look, but laughed along with the others. They clinked glasses and Sara took a swig, leaving the rest of her glass. Grissom was right, she probably shouldn't drink it all.

The team settled down around her, it was the first time they had all been together since the shooting. Sara's heart swelled as they all laughed and joked around her. They stayed for about two hours, before Sara's eyes started to droop. She was really tired of being tired all the time. She didn't say anything, hoping to push through it. Thankfully, the team started to leave. Whether that was because they needed too, or because they realised she was tired, or maybe Grissom kicked them out. Sara didn't know, nor did she really care.

They filtered out, each giving Sara a kiss on the cheek, and left her alone with Grissom. He hadn't let go of her hand for the entire time.

"Why don't you get some rest?" He asked her.

"Yeah. How are you feeling?" She asked, it had been a pretty full on couple of hours and he was still recovering as well, something the team had forgotten.

"I'm ok," he said, Sara narrowed her eyes. Looking him up and down, he looked tired. She rose her eyebrow. "I'm a little tired," he admitted. She shuffled over a little.

"There's room up here." Grissom shook his head, smiling.

"As much as I would love to, I don't think it's a good idea."

"Why not?" She asked.

"Well, it might have been ok, if we didn't have burns on our backs. I don't think I'll be able to stay there." She nodded, he was right. "Get some rest," he said. "You've got a big day tomorrow."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Grissom walked down the corridor of the hospital, his movements getting steadily easier. He had just seen his doctor and she was happy with his progress, once she had drawn up the discharge papers he could go home. Not that he would though. He'd stay here for as long as Sara did.

He smiled a little as he thought of Sara, ever since she had been allowed out of bed last week, she had been like a new woman. She laughed easier now, smiled a whole lot more and teased him more than she ever use to; though he supposed the latter was more to do with their developing relationship. Grinning to himself, like a school boy in love for the first time, he rounded the corner and ran into Ecklie.

"Conrad," Grissom said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard that both you and Sara were doing better, so I came to see you," Ecklie replied, Grissom narrowed his eyes a little, not believing a word.

"Well, that's awfully nice of you."

"I'm being serious, Gil. Look, I know you and I have never really gotten on much, and I don't expect that we'll ever be best buds. But I want to start a new," he said, shuffling uncomfortably on his feet. "I know I've been a bit of an ass over the last couple of months; splitting you team up, demoting Sofia."

Grissom didn't say anything, he didn't know what Ecklie was going to say, but he wasn't going help him along.

"I'll admit, part of it was to get back at you." Grissom's eyebrows sored to his hairline, not because he was surprise but because he was surprised Ecklie admitted it. "Sara was right, when she yelled at me last month. I kiss ass, we both know if this job was given to the person who deserves it, it wouldn't be me. Don't get me wrong, she was insubordinate and out of line. But I can't deny that what she said was the truth."

Grissom opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. He didn't know what to say, never in a million years did he think Conrad Ecklie would admit fault. Both men just stood, awkwardly, opposite each other.

"How is Sofia?" Grissom asked, trying to move past the moment.

"I don't know, I heard she's giving Brass a run for him money though." Grissom laughed a little, remember the blond he had worked with on a couple of occasions. "She's been with homicide for a couple of months now, you guys haven't worked together yet?"

"No," Grissom answered. "I think Catherine and the guys have." Ecklie nodded and the conversation fizzled out.

"Anyway, you were probably on your way to see Sara, right?" Ecklie asked.

"Yes."

"I'll walk with you." They walked together in silence, Ecklie a little embarrassed at how much he shared, Grissom embarrassed for the same reason. They reached Sara's room and Grissom preceded Ecklie through the door.

His heart did a little flip when he saw her face light up as he walked in. She was stood by the window and he could see just how much weight she had lost, it was more evident when she was standing. He was happy to see that she had started to put it back on though. The burns on her legs were visible from where her hospital gown stopped, they were still too tender for her to wear anything on them. There wasn't a need before, but now he may have to look into getting her some lightweight trousers. Especially if Ecklie was going to be popping in.

He knew the moment she saw Ecklie, her eyes flicked behind him and her smile faltered a little. He saw her hands moved to her legs, obviously uncomfortable with her legs being on display to the lab boss. Grissom grinned a little, she shot him a look which only widened his grin.

He took her blanket off the bed and handed it to Sara, gesturing to the chair next to her. She sat down, wincing a little as she did; carefully arranging the blanket over her legs.

"Conrad," she said as she sat, "What do I owe the pleasure?"

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," Ecklie replied, closing the door and standing next to Grissom; who had just taken a seat on Sara's empty bed. "So, how are you?"

"Getting there," Sara said with a smile.

"Good, well I heard from your doctors that you might be getting out soon?"

"Yeah, couple more weeks and I can go home."

"That's great, and Gil?"

"Actually, I've just spoken to my doctor," Grissom said, looking at Sara, "she said I can go home today."

"She did?" Sara asked, sitting up a little straighter.

"Yes, I was on my way to tell you when I ran into Conrad," Grissom nodded to his boss, "I can go home today, she's just drawing up the discharge papers now."

"That's great news," Sara said, a smile lighting her face. The smile didn't last long though, he could see it faltering after a second and he could guess what she was thinking. They had barley been apart since she was admitted, and when they had been it was only for an hour maximum. After today, he will no longer be there 24/7. Well, if he didn't have his way we wouldn't be.

"Yeah," he said, not taking his eyes off her. "I'm going to speak with the doctors and ask them if I can stay, until you're discharged."

"You are?" her eyes lit up and he smiled at her. He couldn't promise anything, the hospital had its rules, but he could at least ask.

Ecklie cleared his throat, alerting his presence to the couple who had obviously forgotten. Grissom and Sara looked up at him, grinning sheepishly at each other beforehand. The pair of them do tend to forget other people when they're together.

"Actually, this was something I wanted to talk to you guys about," he said, gesturing between the two of them. "It's all over the lab," he continued, "I'm happy for you, both of you." Grissom's brows rose once more, this was the second time within the space of 10 minutes Conrad had surprised him. "But,"

Here it came, Grissom thought.

"You know they two of you can't work together now," Ecklie said, to his credit he did seem sorry. Grissom looked to Sara, he couldn't imagine not working with her. They had worked together for five years, the moment he asked her to come to Vegas, the reason he asked her to come to Vegas. He knew, if he had to choose, as he must now, he'd choose her. In a heartbeat. For the past thirty years, he had worked for his career, putting it above everything. He had even told that killer surgeon he couldn't put Sara above his job, and it was true. Not anymore.

Catherine had constantly berated him for having no personal life, and she was right. But the truth was; he never had anyone he wanted to share it with, never had anyone he was willing to delving into the personal with. Now he did.

"I have given this some thought, before coming to the pair of you and I have come up with a plan." He paused then, probably for dramatic effect. Always political. "One of you will need to move shifts, I'll leave it to you to decide who will do that, but I've spoken to both Nick and Warrick and they've both said they are happy to move back to Grave." Grissom and Sara exchanged glances. "So the plan is: one of you will move to Swing and either nick or Warrick will move back to Grave. How does that sound?"

He looked between the pair of them, Grissom didn't know what to say. He hadn't even thought about what would happen when they went back to work, he had been too worried about Sara. Neither of them said anything, Grissom wasn't about to make any decisions without talking with Sara first, he had done enough decision making alone, it was time for a change.

"I'll let the two of you discuss it, I don't need your decision right away," Ecklie said, "talk about it, and give me your decision when you're fit to come back to work." He directed that last part to Sara, she only nodded and looked back to Grissom. Ecklie stood for a second longer before saying his goodbyes, he left them alone in the room.

Grissom watched him leave before flicking his eyes back to Sara, she was looking back out the window. Her face was blank, he wished he knew what she was thinking. A small smile played on her face as the sun light hit it, she always loved the sun.

"Sara," he said, she turned to him, the smile still on her face.

"Yeah?"

"What do you want to do?" he asked.

"I want to go for a walk," she answered.

"Come on Sara, you know what I mean."

"I know, but I want to go for a walk. Get some fresh air," she said, "I haven't been outside since I got here, and I'm feeling a little claustrophobic." Grissom nodded, of course she was, Sara was never one to just sit around and wait for things to happen

"Ok, I'll go and talk to your doctor. See if we can get you something to wear and get you outside."

"I'll call Nick, he has a key to my place." Grissom looked at her in surprise. "It's for emergencies, Gil. No need to get jealous," she grinned at him and he laughed a little in spite of himself. He crossed the room and gave her a kiss, he looked into those beautiful brown eyes. God he loved this woman.

"Pass me my phone before you leave," she said, giving him another kiss when he didn't pull away. He nodded and left the room, passing her phone as he did.

"Hey Nick, can you do me a favour," he heard her say as he shut the door. He walked down the corridor, searching for Dr Logan, his mind going a million miles an hour. Ecklie's not firing them, he's actually helping them. Grissom turned the corner and approached the nurses station, just as he was about to speak, Dr Logan walked round the corner.

"Dr Logan," Grissom called. The doctor turned round with a smile and approached him.

"Dr Grissom, I've got your discharge papers here. Dr Clark would have brought them to you, but I was on my way to Sara's room. Figured you'd be there," she said with a smile, handing him the paperwork.

"Thanks, actually I was just looking for you."

"Yeah, well let's walk and talk." The pair of them made their way back to Sara's room. "So, what can I help you with?"

"Sara wants to go outside, I told her I'd check with you."

"What do you think?" the doctor asked.

"I don't think she's strong enough, but then again I'm not really thinking rationally," he said, honestly.

"No, you're not. You're worried about her, that's understandable," she said, stopping them. "Dr Grissom, I think she'll be alright. Not for a long time, maybe half an hour. She is still weak, but she's a fighter. She has improved so much already, more than I thought she would. As long as she's not alone, she'll be fine."

Grissom nodded, he was worried but he knew he had to trust the doctor's judgment. It was her job after all, she knew more that he did.

* * *

Grissom and Sara were sat outside, they had found a bench by the hospital pond. The sun was shining and warm, it was the perfect day. Sara was sat gingerly on the bench, Grissom watched as the wind played with the skirt she was wearing. It wasn't a heavy breeze, but the skirt swirled around her legs; probably soothing on her burns. Her head was turned up, eyes closed, the sun hitting her face emanating a warm glow around her.

She looked beautiful.

He would never understand how someone like her could ever be interested in him. A small smile formed on his mouth as his eyes travelled over her body. When they went back to her face, he saw her looking at him, grinning a little at being caught, he looked out over the pond.

"I like your skirt," he said, "new?"

"No, it's Catherine's. Nick asked her to get some clothes for me, apparently he didn't relish the idea of looking through my underwear draw," she said, laughing a little. Grissom joined in, he could well imagine.

"So, Cath brought you a new skirt?"

"No, it's hers. She figured I'd be better off with a skirt, and since I don't own one, she loaned me hers."

"You don't own a skirt?" he ask.

"No, I'm more of a trousers kind of girl. Never had much occasion to wear a skirt."

"It's too bad, you look good in one," he said, looking her up and down again, he notice a small blush creep up her cheek. The sight gave him a warm feeling in his chest, he loved that he could make her blush, especially with a small comment like that.

"I've been thinking," she said, cutting into his thoughts.

"About?"

"Shifts," she was looking right at him, "I'm going to move to swing." Grissom brows rose, to say he was surprise was an understatement. He didn't expect her to make a decision so quickly, in fact he thought they would discuss it first.

"Why?"

"It makes sense, if you move either you'd have to have to be demoted or Catherine would have to move. She loves being in swing, it's great for both her and Lindsey." Grissom was touched that she would think about him, he was going to say that he'd move. Actually, he was going to call Ecklie that evening.

"I," he started, not sure what to say.

"I know what you're going to say, and I appreciate it." She always knew what he was going to say, even before he did. "But, unless you want to move to swing, I'm happy too."

"Greg's going to be devastated," Grissom teased.

"He'll get over it," she said, shifting her position so that her head was resting on his shoulder. They sat in companionable silence after that, enjoying the warmth and each other's presence.

The scene changed around them as they sat, an old couple sat opposite them; feeding the birds. A small child running around after a butterfly while her parents watched, the dad was in a wheel chair. His leg was elevated and in a cast, the rest of him seemed unscratched so Grissom ruled out car crash, judging by the build he guess sporting accident.

The little girl cried out, she had fallen over chasing the butterfly. The mother ran over and picked the child up, Grissom couldn't see, but he guess she had tears running down her face by the way the mother was wiping it. She took the girl to her father, who immediately took her when her arms extended out to her. He smiled as he watched father and daughter embrace and wondered if Sara had ever thought about children, watching this family his mind changed the scene: he was holding a small dark haired girl while Sara stood beside them, smiling. She leant, kissed the child on the head and then him.

He was startled a little with the image his mind created, a family was never something he had ever longed for. Then again, there were many thing he never wanted before he met Sara Sidle, now he couldn't think of anything better than creating a life, a family, a home with the woman sat beside him. He turned to her, he face close to his, eyes closed just enjoying the sun. It was something they would need to discuss, not yet but at some point. He was getting ahead of himself, they had only really been together for a couple of weeks and those weeks haven't exactly been the honeymoon period you get when starting out in a relationship.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked, after a while. Sara looked up at him, a little confused before she smiled.

"I'm sure about you," she said, "I'm sure about us. Everything else we can work out, I love my job and what I do, but I don't have to do that on Grave. Besides, it'll be great to work with Cath and the guys again."

"You know, you only get one of them. You can't have both," Grissom teased.

"What are we going to do? Flip for them?" Sara teased back.

"Heads for Warrick, tails for Nick?"

"You got a coin?" Grissom fished around his pocket and pulled out a coin.

"Do you want to do the honours?" he asked.

"No, I'll let you do it. Heads, you get Warrick, tails, you get Nick. Deal?"

"Deal," he said. He flipped the coin, but rather than catch it, it fell through his fingers and dropped on the floor and rolled away. Sara laughed and groaned a little as he made to catch it. "Don't you laugh at me, Ms Sidle," he warned, Sara only grinned a little more. "Did I hurt you?" he asked, watching her grimace a little through her smile.

"A little," she said, honestly.

"I'm sorry," he said. She smiled and scanned the floor for the coin.

"By your feet," she said, nodding in the direction. Grissom bent down and picked it up. "What's the verdict?"

"Heads, you get Nick, I get Warrick."

"Nice, Catherine will be pleased," Sara said, settling back on his shoulder.

"Why do you say that?"

"Oh, come on Gil. If that woman's not in love with him, I'm Winne the Poo."

"Cath's in love with Nick?"

"No, Warrick. I reckon she might be in for a shot now they're not working together."

"I don't know," Grissom said.

"Why not? She's obviously got a thing for him," Sara replied, sitting up again and looking him square on. "So why don't you think Cath and Warrick would be a good couple?"

"Well," he said, leaning back, "I've always thought that maybe Cath and Brass might have a little thing?"

"Catherine and Brass?" Sara exclaimed in disbelief. "No way."

"Why not?"

"I don't know, I've just never pegged the two of them having that kind of relationship." They sat for another hour, enjoying the sun and arguing over who the elusive Ms Willows was more likely to fall in love with; Sara stuck by Warrick and Grissom stuck by Brass. It wasn't until Doctor Logan came out looking for the pair of them, did Grissom realise the time. Visiting hours had been over for at least half an hour, he needed to speak with the doctor. He really didn't relish the idea of leaving without Sara, someone did try to kill her, twice, and Grissom wasn't quiet convinced they had given up.

He was given permission and a bed was provided for him, it wasn't a big bed, it was more of a cot, but it was the best they could do. His back was not going to like this at all. One look over a Sara, however, banish all thoughts of complaints. He'd sleep on the floor if it meant being near her.

Sara pulled her tray and got out a deck of card, "fancy another game?" she asked with a cheeky grin.

"You think you can beat me this time?"

"I can always hope," she said, dealing the cards. The conversed easily as they played, and it wasn't long before the conversation moved back to there earlier argument: Warrick or Brass. Only time could tell.

*AN: Sorry for the long waits in updates, but I've only got one more exam to go and I'll be free! So updates should get more regular after next week. Anyways, as always, thanks for reading and for the reviews. You know I love them! I do have a question though; this story will be ending soon but I may carry on in a different story with a potential love affair for Catherine. My question is; Brass or Warrick? You can see our two lovebirds can't decide and nether can I, so I'm leaving it up to my lovely readers! I'd love to know what you think, and the one with the most votes wins. Please review, love to you all!*


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The SUV pulled up in the car park, Grissom watched as the lights turned off and the engine stopped. He was a little anxious today, well 'little anxious' is an understatement. They had spoken about this, at length, and had both decided this was for the best. He got to work as he usually did, an hour early, caught up on the messages and paperwork. Not that he managed to do much today, people had walked in and out of his office the entire time, delivering reports, asking questions, and he didn't take in anything they had said.

Catherine caught him out. She waltzed into his office, acting like she owns the place as usual.

"Spit it out, Gil," she said. Grissom wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone about what was worrying him, least of all Catherine who is too nosey for her own good. So he just opted for polite confusion.

"What do you mean?" he asked, keeping his tone as polite as possible.

"Come off it, I know she comes back today," she threw herself on the chair opposite him, leaning back like she had all the time in the world. "How is she?"

Grissom took his glasses of his face, holding them in one hand while his other pinched the bridge of his nose. Could this women ever just mind her own business? When he looked up, he was hit by a pang of guilt. She cared, about both of them, of course she was nosey but in this case it was because she cared.

"Bored," he said. "She's fed up at being at home."

"Yeah, well Sara was never the type to just sit at home and do nothing," Grissom didn't respond. No, she wasn't at all. It was one of the things he loved about her. Right now, however, he wished she would happily stay at home, just for a few more weeks at least. He was glad she was feeling better, stronger, but it didn't stop the fear the she was overdoing it.

"Is she just coming in for the trial?" Catherine asked. Chloe Turners trial starts today, despite the confession, the woman still plead not guilty at her sentencing. Now they have to be dragged through a trial, hasn't she put Sara through enough already?

He wasn't worried about the result, the assistant DA, who has now dropped the assistant title, has assured them both it was an open and shut case. They have evidence, the testimonies of Sara and Vincent Jones as well as the confession, which, by a stroke of luck, the judge didn't throw out. Even with the convincing argument from Turner that is was a coerced confession. No, Grissom wasn't worried that Turner would walk free. He was more worried about Sara, he didn't was to put her through this.

But this is Sara, and Sara is very stubborn.

"Yes," Grissom replied. "She wanted to get back to work, but I convinced her to wait another couple of days. She's still coming here first though, to say hi to everyone."

"How did you manage that?"

"I just made the point that, even if she did come back to work, she'd still be stuck inside," Grissom said, putting his glasses back on his face. "She hasn't been cleared for the field yet."

"Hey, Cath," Warrick said, appearing at the office door. "Oh, sorry. Am I interrupting?"

"No, Rick, what's up?" Catherine said, sitting up a little straighter in her chair. Grissom hadn't forgotten the little bet he and Sara had going and, as much as he hates being wrong, he must admit Sara might just have it right.

"I just spoke with Ecklie, he wants me back on Grave tomorrow. You'll be short staffed until Sara gets back, sorry."

"It's alright, Grave has been short staffed since Sara went into hospital. They need all the help they can get," Catherine replied, throwing a cheeky grin Grissom's way. He just laughed good naturedly. They had been short staffed for a while, and were a little behind in cases, but nowhere near as much as Catherine suggested.

Warrick smiled at his friends and supervisors before leaving them alone. Catherine didn't stay for long after that, and now Grissom has found himself standing in the car park watching the most beautiful woman get out of her SUV.

He watched as she moved gently, trying not to aggravate her injuries. She had only left the hospital six weeks ago and had made incredible progress, she was up and around every day, his condo had never been so clean. Grissom wasn't a messy man, but it only took a week living with Sara to show him that he did neglect the cleaning aspect on his living.

They had spent the last few weeks getting to know each other all over again. He was surprised about how much he didn't know about her; she loves to clean, almost in an OCD way, but not as intense. She also loved quiet evenings, and despite her hard surface, she loves romcoms. Unlike Catherine, no one would expect Sara to enjoy bubble baths and backrubs, but Grissom has since discovered she's damn well greedy when it comes to them.

He also learned that she hates to cook, which is good for Grissom because he loves to. They are both so different, and yet very similar. Sara is very demonstrate, when they're alone, where Grissom has to remind himself that he's not alone anymore and to be attentive of her. Yet they both are being very clumsy in this relationship, neither of them really knowing what to do with the other or where to take it. They know they love each other, and living together was a natural thing since Sara shouldn't really be alone at the moment with her recovery. But they still haven't slept together, it's not that neither of them don't want to, they're both just a little scared.

It's been so long since Grissom has really been with a woman, especially with a woman of Sara's age, he was nervous. He's been using the excuse that he didn't want her to cause her any harm, with her injuries. But, with the amount that she has been recovering lately, he won't have that excuse for long.

She looked over at him and smiled, the sight was enough to take his breath away. He heard the door shut and she started to walk towards him, limping a little as she did. He had to stop himself from going to her and sweeping her into his arms, they were at work after all.

"Hey," she said, a little breathlessly a she approached him.

"Hey," he replied. It still baffled him what this woman could do to his heart. "Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," was her reply. He smiled at her and held out his arm for her to proceed him inside.

* * *

Sara and Grissom walked out of the courthouse, the start of the trail had been good for them. Despite all her accusations, the prosecution was able to dismantle all of Turners arguments. However, Sara knew that didn't mean it would be a quick verdict. Trials can last for months, she hoped this would be the case here, she just wanted to put this all behind her.

Grissom took her hand and lead her to the car. Sara still couldn't believe this was happening, despite everything, the last couple of months with Grissom had been the best of her life. She still hadn't told him she loved him, not because she was scared or unsure, she had never been so certain of anything in her life, but because she knew she didn't need to. It was in everything she did, in her every look, and he knew it.

When they got to the car, Grissom opened the door for her. She sat down carefully, her legs still very tender. She could walk without her crutch now, but it still hurt. Her arm was still in the sling, but other than that she was almost back to normal.

Grissom pulled out of the car park and headed for the lab. They had driven to the courthouse together and Sara needed to pick up her car. They didn't speak on the way back, words weren't necessary in their relationship. They had their own special way or communicating without words.

They pulled into the lab and Grissom parked next to her, to save her from an unnecessary walk. Grissom turned off the ignition, but before he could get out Sara lightly tapped him on the arm. He looked round to her expectantly.

"It looks like I'm gonna win the bet," she said with a smirk, nodding to a couple in the distance. Catherine and Warrick were standing by her car, they were very close and talking quietly to each other.

"They're just talking, Sara. No need to jump to conclusions."

"Come off it, Griss. Look at them."

"I am," Grissom said. The couple watched for a few more minutes, Catherine and Warrick finished their conversation. Catherine got in her car and Warrick headed back to the lab. "See," Grissom exclaimed, please that he hadn't been proved wrong just yet.

"Hang on," Sara stopped him. "Just wait." She was watching Warrick walk away, waiting for something. Sure enough, a few steps away, he looked back at Catherine and grinned.

"That doesn't mean anything."

"Denial!" Sara grinned at him and got out of the car.

"Don't act so smug, Ms Sidle. You haven't been proven right yet," Grissom wagged his finger at her as he got out the car.

"Neither have you," she pointed out. Grissom shook his head, truth be told; he wasn't sure who Catherine would choose, or if they would choose her too. He would never tell Sara that though. Neither of them had spoken much about Catherine, Warrick or Brass since their first conversation. Both content to wait and see what happens, but it was fun to speculate every now and then.

Grissom walk round his car and pulled her in for a kiss. He still wasn't used to public displays of affection, but when she gives him that sassy smile he can't help himself. It was only a quick kiss, he pulled back and ran a finger down her cheek.

"I love you, Gil." All the air seemed to rush out of him at once. She said it, she had finally said it. He had told her many times that he loved her, but she had never returned the statement. Not that he needed her to, he could see it every time she looked at him. And yet, hearing the words felt like nothing he had ever experienced before.

"I love you too." The next morning, when Grissom came home from work, all fear, all caution was thrown out the window as they showed each other just how much they meant it.

It was the end of one story, and the beginning of another.

**A/N: I know it's take me ages to get this final chapter up, I have no excuses except life got in the way. I hope it didn't disappoint, I've been trying to get the right ending for weeks. Thanks for reading**


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